Drop (liquid)

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A drop or droplet is a small volume of liquid, bounded completely or almost completely by free surfaces.

Contents 1 Surface tension 2 Optics 3 Sound 4 Shape 5 Gallery 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

Surface tension

The simplest way to form a drop is to allow liquid to flow slowly from the lower end of a vertical tube of small diameter. When the pendant drop exceeds a certain size it is no longer stable and detaches itself. Drops may also be formed by the condensation of a supercooled vapor or by atomization of a larger mass of liquid. The mass m (or weight mg) of the largest drop that can hang from the end of a tube of radius a can be found from the formula

where λ is the surface tension of the liquid, α is the angle of contact with the tube, and g is the acceleration due to gravity.^{[citation needed]} This relationship is the basis of a convenient method of measuring surface tension, commonly used in the petroleum industry.

Optics

Due to the different refractive index of water and air, refraction and reflection occur on the surfaces of raindrops, leading to rainbow formation.

Sound

The major source of sound when a droplet hits a liquid surface is the resonance of excited bubbles trapped underwater. These oscillating bubbles are responsible for most liquid sounds, such as running water or splashes, as they actually consist of many drop-liquid collisions.^[1][1]

Shape

The classic shape associated with a drop (with a pointy end in its upper side) is actually an optical effect due to light reflections and the drops rapid movement. The shape of a drop falling through a gas is actually more or less spherical. Larger drops tend to be flatter on the bottom part due to the pressure of the gas they move through.^[1]

Gallery

2006-02-13 Drop-impact.jpg Impact of a drop of water.	2006-01-28 drop-impact backjet.jpg Backjet from drop impact.	Water splashes 001.jpg A drop of water hitting a metal surface.	Post-splash with droplets.jpg A drop of water hitting a wet metal surface and ejecting more droplets, which become water globules and skim across the surface of the water.
Water drop on a leaf.jpg A drop of water on a leaf.	Water droplet backjet.JPG A triple backjet after impact.	Raindrop on a fern frond.jpg Photo of a raindrop on a fern frond.	2006-01-21 Detaching drop.jpg Detaching drop.
Showerheadandwaterdroplets.jpg Water droplets forming out of a shower head.

See also

• Rain

References

External links

• Liquid Sculpture - pictures of drops
• Liquid Art - Galleries of fine art droplet photography
• Tvw Gallery of Drops - pictures of drops
• Calculation of water waste from dripping tapTemplate:Fluiddynamics-stub

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