February 1, 2013 Issue

Physics To Go 133 - Films and bubbles

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Physics in Your World

Liquid Drop Art image
credit: Corrie White &  Igor Kliakhandler; image source; larger image

Liquid Drop Art

This image was created by photographer Corrie White in her basement workshop. She uses a device a device that releases several drops from the same location in rapid succession, at predetermined time intervals. For more of her work, see Liquid Drop Art.

To learn about the image, see this commentary by a physicist.

To see how Corrie does it, check out her illustrated Drop Photography Guide on Flickr.

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Physics at Home

Kitchen Sink Experiments: Bubbles that sink: Antibubbles

Think about a bubble: It's a thin film of water, with air inside and outside. Now imagine the opposite of a bubble: That would be a thin film of air, enclosing water inside and surrounded by water outside. This structure is called an antibubble.

To learn how to make anti-bubbles, visit Kitchen Sink Experiments: Bubbles that sink: Antibubbles and also Science by Email--AntiBubbles.

To learn more, see this Science News Online article.


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From Physics Research

APS Division of Fluid Dynamics 2012 Gallery of Fluid Motion image
image credit: Xiaodong Chen and Vigor Yang (School of Aerospace Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA); image source; larger image.

APS Division of Fluid Dynamics 2012 Gallery of Fluid Motion

This image is a high-resolution computer simulation of the head-on collision of two tiny drops, one moving up and one moving down. The drops approach each other with a high velocity, so there is considerable energy in the collision. For more information, see this description.

The diameter of each drop is only about twice the thickness of human hair. Imagine how hard it would be to do this experiment and see what actually happens.

Also, compare the image at left with the simulation above: Note how the edge of the disk and film break up into drops in a similar way.


Worth a Look

Flow Visualization

Check out the galleries of fluid flow images on this University of Colorado site.


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