High speed camera study shows why boiling drops take off
Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 07:31
in Physics & Chemistry
(Phys.org) -- Everyone knows what happens if you drop water onto a hot pan, it separates into flat bottomed bubbles that appear to float above the bottom of the pan then move around of their own accord until disappearing. This whole process is known in science circles as the Leidenfrost effect, after Johann Gottlob Leidenfrost, who studied it closely and wrote about it way back in 1756. Now new research by a French team made up of Franck Celestini, Thomas Frisch, and Yves Pomeau has found other things are going on as well, which they describe in their paper published on the subject in Physical Review Letters.