Inverted Cheerios effect
The Cheerios effect is the tendency of solids floating on the top of liquids to clump together due to surface tension and gravity and is named after the behavior of cereal in milk. The effect has even been applied in understanding the way gravity binds objects together in space. Reversing the system and asking how liquids behave on top of solids has revealed an interesting and unexpected behavior. On a sufficiently thin surface that can deform itself (like Jello), drops of liquid will repel each other.
Article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/14/science/inverted-cheerios-effect-returns-physics-to-the-breakfast-table.html?_r=1
Paper:
http://www.pnas.org/content/113/27/7403.abstract?sid=0e763463-de62-4227-88f0-e5d6bcb5d30d
#physics #cheerioseffect #research #science
Edible experiments, the best kind of scientific investigation? Sherbet instead of pure bicarbonate is far tastier...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.playideas.com/25-edible-science-experiments-for-kids/
"For Kids" doesn't mean adults can't do them, just to... make sure
The cheerio thing is explained with the behaviour of surface tension, so I suppose it's about the properties of liquids, solids, and gases and how they separate themselves, but there may well be some facet of magnetism also acting, and then, of course, how fast the given material keeps hitting the earth as everything moves around the sun and the galaxy with it.
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