No-Splash Liquid
By Charles Q. Choi
On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
The key for anyone wanting to make a big splash is pressure—of the atmospheric kind, that is. Normally, when a liquid droplet hits a surface, it spreads into an undulating puddle that rips apart into a splatter. Seeking to control splashing, University of Chicago physicists released alcohol drops in a vacuum chamber onto a smooth, dry glass plate and recorded the results with a camera shooting 47,000 frames per second. At roughly one-sixth normal atmospheric pressure, splashing completely disappeared; droplets just pancaked without visible undulations. The investigators suspect that fallen drops splatter because gas pressing on them destabilizes their outward spread. These findings, presented at the March meeting of the American Physical Society, could help control splashing in fuel combustion and in inkjet printing.
It’s Time to Stand Up for Science
If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.
I’ve been a Scientific American subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.
If you subscribe to Scientific American, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.
In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can't-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world's best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.
There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you’ll support us in that mission.
