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Updated: Jul 26, 2026

A Method to Manipulate Surface Tension of a Liquid Metal via Surface Oxidation and Reduction
Published on: January 26, 2016
Liquid rope coiling on a solid surface
M Maleki1, M Habibi, R Golestanian
1Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences, Zanjan 45195-159, Iran.
Abstract:
We present an experimental study of the coiling instability of a liquid "rope" falling on a solid surface. Coiling can occur in three different regimes--viscous, gravitational, or inertial--depending on the fluid viscosity and density, the fall height, and the flow rate. The competition among the different forces causes the coiling frequency first to decrease and subsequently to increase with increasing height. We also observe an oscillation between two coiling states in the gravitational-to-inertial transitional range, reflecting the multivaluedness of the dependence of coiling frequency on fall height. The data can be rescaled in a universal way, and agree very well with numerically predicted coiling frequencies.
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