This video is an excerpt from "Hidden By Time: Seeing the Physical World with High-Speed Cameras," an educational DVD from Physics Curriculum & Instruction.
www.PhysicsCurriculum.com/hidd...
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Camera Imaging: 1000 frames/sec
Playback: 5 frames/sec
Slow Motion Factor: 200
The four different segments show a milk drop falling from a height of 25 centimeters and impacting a shallow pool of milk. The pool becomes slightly larger with each new trial.
Upon impact, surface tension holding the drop together is shattered and a remarkable crown-like formation rises up. Surface tension, the dominant force responsible for shaping any unconstrained liquid, continually strives to minimize the surface area of the structure. The tips of the crown form into individual spherical droplets and eventually fly free. With a slightly deeper pools of milk, droplets at the tip of the crown do not have a chance to completely form before the structure collapses.
The duration of the entire splash is less than 0.025 seconds.