title: Detection of a dynamic cone-shaped meniscus on the surface of fluids in electric fields.
abstract: A cone-shaped meniscus of electrified fluids, often called a Taylor cone, is observed in rain drops and lightning and employed in various physical instruments and experimental techniques, but the way it evolves from a rounded shape to a cone is a long-standing puzzle. Earth's gravity and microgravity measurements on the meniscus whose height is just shy of droplet ejection reveal that field-driven cusp evolution exhibits a universal self-similarity insensitive to the forcing field and scaled by the fluid surface tension and density. Our work paves the way for dynamic control of field-driven phenomena in fluids.
authors.affiliation: New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102, USA.
authors.forename: Ezinwa O
authors.initials: EO
authors.lastname: Elele
authors.affiliation: New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102, USA.
authors.forename: Yueyang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas 77058, USA.
authors.forename: Donald R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Pettit
authors.affiliation: New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102, USA.
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Khusid