Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Fluid dynamics

Droplet genealogy

The tendency of a stationary droplet, sitting on the surface of a large body of liquid, to eject a smaller droplet when it eventually coalesces with the body has long been known but its details poorly understood. A combination of high-speed imaging and numerical simulations casts new light on this intriguing phenomenon and its widespread implications.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: The partial coalescence of an ethanol drop about 1.5 mm in diameter.

References

  1. Charles, G. E. & Mason, S. G. J. Colloid Sci. 15, 105–122 (1960).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Thoroddsen, S. T. & Takehara, K. Phys. Fluids 12, 1265–1267 (2000).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. Blanchette, F. & Bigioni, T. P. Nature Phys. 2, 254–257 (2006).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Sirringhaus, H. et al. Science 290, 2123–2126 (2000).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Back, G. A., Koch, D. L. & Gopinath, A. J. Fluid Mech. 518, 157–185 (2004).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Couder, Y., Fort, E., Gautier, C. H. & Boudaoud, A. Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 177801 (2005).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Niemela, J. J. J. Low Temp. Phys. 119, 351–356 (2000).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Weilert, M. A., Whitaker, D. L., Maris, H. J. & Seidel, G. M. Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 4840–4843 (1996).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. Burton, J. C., Taporek, P. & Rutledge, J. E. J. Low Temp. Phys. 134, 237–243 (2004).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. Mahamed-Kassim, Z. & Longmire, E. K. Phys. Fluids 16, 2170–2193 (2004).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. Etoh, T. G. et al. IEEE Trans. Electron Dev. 50, 144–151 (2003).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Thoroddsen, S. Droplet genealogy. Nature Phys 2, 223–224 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys276

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys276

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing