Water Droplet Avalanches

First study of fluid droplets avalanche dynamics: deposition, growth, coalescence, and avalanching (e.g., rain on a window pane). Obtained evidence of avalanche scaling in water droplets, and continuously moved away from this regime (to a response with no scaling, i.e., with characteristic time scales).

More information in:

• B. Plourde, F. Nori, and M. Bretz,
  Phys. Rev. Lett. 71, 2749 (1993).

Work featured in:
Science News 144, 261 (1993); and in
Physics World 6 , 42 (Dec. 93).