Collisions between liquid drops

Abstract 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 eC ,eR and eT 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,eC, eR and eT. 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.