Abstract
Thin jets of viscous fluid like honey falling from capillary nozzles can attain lengths exceeding 10 m before breaking up into droplets via the Rayleigh-Plateau (surface tension) instability. Using a combination of laboratory experiments and WKB analysis of the growth of shape perturbations on a jet being stretched by gravity, we determine how the jet’s intact length depends on the flow rate , the viscosity , and the surface tension coefficient . In the asymptotic limit of a high-viscosity jet, , where is the gravitational acceleration. The agreement between theory and experiment is good, except for very long jets.
- Received 28 December 2012
- Corrected 15 April 2013
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.144501
© 2013 American Physical Society
Corrections
15 April 2013
Erratum
Publisher’s Note: Delayed Capillary Breakup of Falling Viscous Jets [Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 144501 (2013)]
A. Javadi, J. Eggers, D. Bonn, M. Habibi, and N. M. Ribe
Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 179902 (2013)
Focus
Dripping Honey Explained
Published 1 April 2013
New theory and experiments explain why the lengthy strands that dangle from a spoon of honey can get so long without breaking up.
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