title: Drop splashing on a dry smooth surface.
abstract: The corona splash due to the impact of a liquid drop on a smooth dry substrate is investigated with high-speed photography. A striking phenomenon is observed: splashing can be completely suppressed by decreasing the pressure of the surrounding gas. The threshold pressure where a splash first occurs is measured as a function of the impact velocity and found to scale with the molecular weight of the gas and the viscosity of the liquid. Both experimental scaling relations support a model in which compressible effects in the gas are responsible for splashing in liquid solid impacts.
authors.affiliation: The James Franck Institute and Department of Physics, The University of Chicago, 5640 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Wendy W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Sidney R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Nagel