Recommended Citation
September 1, 2018.
Abstract
When a body of liquid sits on a surface, an irregular border between the wet and dry regions of the surface exists, called the contact line. Driving this contact line back and forth repeatedly can change its shape.We use a syringe pump to cyclically infuse and withdraw a predetermined volume of water, and take photos of the contact line after each cycle. Comparing these images to each other determines if the contact line is returning to the same shape. We find that below a critical value of infused volume, after many cycles the contact line reaches a steady state in which it always returns to the same shape. Above that value the shape fluctuates in the steady state. This suggests a transition similar to that seen in other systems like particle suspensions and solids.
Disciplines
Fluid Dynamics | Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
Mentor
Nathan C. Keim
Lab site
California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly SLO)
Funding Acknowledgement
Funding: NSF 1708870, RSCA. The 2018 STEM Teacher and Researcher Program and this project have been made possible through support from Chevron (www.chevron.com), the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation (www.marinesanctuary.org), the National Science Foundation through the Robert Noyce Program under Grant #1836335 and 1340110, the California State University Office of the Chancellor, and California Polytechnic State University in partnership with The National Science Foundation. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funders.
URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/star/531