Challenger Center: Garriott Science Challenge

The Shape of Water (Raindrops in Space)

A shape that a drop of water takes is influenced by gravity, the size of the drop, any surfaces the drop is touching and surface tension. Surface tension is a property of the surface of a liquid that causes it to behave like a solid stretchy sheet. It allows insects to walk on water, small object to float on the surface of water and is the cause of capillary action (liquids pulled up into thin hollow cylinder).

Richard Garriott will do several experiments with liquid water. He will create free floating water drops and observe their shape. He will place drops of water of varying sizes on a variety of surfaces (paper, plastic, metal) and observe the shape of the water drop. Using narrow cylinders of various sizes, he will fill them half way with water and observe the shape of the surface of the water in the cylinder. He will video tape the water experiments which will allow accurate measurements of the size and shape of the water drops and the water surface.

Essential Questions

How does the surface tension of a liquid determine the shape of the liquid’s surface?
How does gravity affect the shape of a water drop or the surface of a liquid in a narrow container?
What types of surfaces can overcome the surface tension of water?

What shape will the water drops have in space? What shape will the surface of the water in the narrow cylinders have in space? What shape will the water drop have when places on surfaces (paper, plastic, metal) in space?

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