Liquid Drops and Globules, Their Formation and Movements: Three lectures delivered to popular audiences — John Shaqi
Liquid Drops and Globules, Their Formation and Movements: Three lectures delivered to popular audiencesDarling, Charles R. (Charles Robert)
Science
Liquid Drops and Globules, Their Formation and Movements: Three lectures delivered to popular audiences
Darling, Charles R. (Charles Robert)
Drops; Liquids; Surface tension
*Ascending or Inverted Drops.*—If we discharge orthotoluidine into water
when both are hotter than 75° F., the former liquid will rise, as its
density is now less than that of water. If, therefore, I take a funnel
with the stem bent into a parallel branch, so as to discharge upwards
(A, Fig. 13) and raise the temperature of both liquids above 75° F., we
see that the drop gradually grows towards the top of the water, finally
breaking away and giving rise to the droplet. Everything, in fact, was
the same as in the case of a falling drop, except that the direction was
reversed. A slight rise in temperature has thus turned the whole process
topsy-turvy, but the action is really the same in both cases. When, on
heating, the water acquired the greater density, its buoyancy overcame
the pull of gravitation on the orthotoluidine, and accordingly the drop
was pushed upwards, the result being the same as when it was pulled
downwards. An inverted drop may always be obtained by discharging a
light liquid into a heavier one, e.g. olive oil into water, or water
into any of the liquids mentioned on p. 19, below the equi-density
temperature.
LECTURE II
*Automatic Aniline Drops.*—In the foregoing experiments the drop was
enlarged until it broke away by feeding it with liquid; but it is
possible to arrange that the formation shall be quite automatic. The
experiment, as we shall see, is extremely simple, and yet it contains an
element of surprise. Into a beaker containing water nearly boiling I
pour a considerable quantity of aniline, which at first breaks up into a
large number of drops. After a short time, however, all the aniline
floats to the surface, having been warmed by contact with the water to a
temperature higher than that of equi-density (147° F., or 64° C.)—which
is exactly what we should expect to happen. There it remains for a brief
period in the form of a large mass with the lower portion curved in
outline. Soon, however, we observe the centre of the mass sinking in the
water, and taking on the now familiar outline of a falling drop.
Gradually, it narrows at the neck and breaks away; but as aniline is a
viscous liquid, the neck in this case is long and therefore easily seen.
The large drop breaks away and falls to the bottom of the beaker, its
upper surface rising and falling for some time owing to the recoil of
its skin after separation, finally becoming permanently convex.
Immediately after the large drop has parted, the upper mass shrinks
upwards, spreading out further on the surface of the water, with the
result that the long neck is severed at the top, its own weight
assisting the breakage. Now follows the resolution of the detached neck
into two or more spheres, usually a large and a small (Fig. 22). And
now, to those who view the experiment for the first time, comes the
surprise. The large drop, which was more or less flattened when it came
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