Shape Dynamics of Freely Falling Droplets

Abstract

Oscillating shape motion of a freely falling water droplet has long fascinated and inspired scientists. We propose dynamic non-linear equations for closed, two dimensional surfaces in gravity and apply it to analyze shape dynamics of freely falling water drops. The analytic solutions qualitatively well explain why drops oscillate among prolate/oblate morphologies and display a number of features consistent with experiments.

2 figures

Cited by in corpus (2)

• Generalization of the Kelvin Equation for Arbitrarily Curved Surfaces
• Extending the Calculus of Moving Surfaces to Higher Orders