Science · 6 pages · 12 min
Why raindrops are not shaped like tears
A falling raindrop is a round bead or a flattened bun, not a tailed teardrop.
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From the opening
Raindrops are not shaped like tears. Small ones are nearly spheres, and larger ones are flattened on the bottom by the air they push through, more like a bun than like a pendant with a tail. The opening covers why surface tension makes a sphere, how air flattens the bottom, and why a hanging drop looks different.
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Inside
- Why surface tension makes a sphere
- How air flattens the bottom
- Why a hanging drop looks different
- What happens when a drop breaks
- Where the idea stops applying
- A distinction worth keeping
Sources
- Surface tension pulling a free drop toward a sphere
- Aerodynamic flattening and breakup of large raindrops