Characteristic oscillatory motion of a camphor boat sensitive to physicochemical environment

A self-propelled camphor boat on water was investigated from the viewpoint of characteristic features of motion and mode-bifurcation depending on the diffusion length of camphor molecules. When a camphor disk was connected to the bottom of a larger plastic plate and then was placed on water, either oscillatory motion (repetition between rest and motion) or continuous motion was observed. In this paper, we report the novel features of this motion and mode-bifurcation as a function of the diffusion length of camphor molecules, e.g., multiple accelerations during oscillation, period-2 or irregular oscillatory motion, and reciprocating oscillation. These characteristic motion and mode-bifurcation are discussed in relation to the diffusion length of camphor molecules under the camphor boat and the development of camphor molecules from the camphor boat on water.