Collisions between liquid drops

An experiment is described in which pairs of water drops of different size were caused to collide during free fall at a velocity equal to the difference of their terminal velocities in still air. The collision parameters of trajectory, drop size, and drop charge were controlled with precision, and impacts of a particular kind could be reproduced indefinitely. By using synchronized flash photography, well in excess of 30000 measurements were taken from more than 10000 frames of film of the resulting behaviour of the water-drop pairs. Data are discussed in terms of an impact parameter, X which defines the relative trajectory of the drops in the centre-of-mass frame, and three energy parameters e C , e R and e T which delineate the properties electrostatic energy, rotational energy, and total energy of the two-drop system before impact. Input parameters were confined to values appropriate to natural rainfall. After collision four basic types of rotation occurred, the particular kind of rotation depending upon X , e C , e R and e T . Measured rates of rotation were compared with that to be expected from a simple model of inelastic collision between solid spheres and showed a marked resemblance. Distributions of mass after collision were compared with a model based upon a bimodal Gaussian distribution to good effect. In addition, frequency distributions of the number of drop products resulting from a given collision were prepared showing the controlling influence of the impact parameter, X , and the effect of varying drop charge. Relations were also established between statistical values for the coalescence efficiency of a given drop pair and the input parameters; however, while all results were consistent and reproducible, the effect of drop charge could not be demonstrated by a simple model.

The instability of evaporating charged drops

These studies constitute an extension of the work of Doyle, Moffett & Vonnegut (1964).Experiments showed that the evaporation of a charged droplet of water, aniline or toluene supported in a vertical electric field is accompanied by no discernible loss of charge and a consequent increase in electrical pressure in the drop surface owing to the decrease in radius. When the relationship between drop charge Q and radius R becomes consistent with the Rayleigh criterion the drop disintegrates at its uppermost point, where the electrical pressure is a maximum, to eject about 25% of its mass in the form of highly charged droplets. The measured relationship between the quantity of ejected charge, ΔQ, the mass loss, ΔM, and R was close to that derived theoretically from Rayleigh's equation, indicating that the value of ΔQ for a particular ΔM and R is approximately the theoretical minimum and that an individual drop may undergo a sequence of disintegrations, as was observed. The range of droplet radii studied by means of this technique was 30–200 μ.The absence of disintegrations during the evaporation of much larger charged drops suspended from insulating fibres was attributed to corona discharge.