Droplet motions fill a periodic table.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 30792354.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1073/pnas.1817065116 and PMC identifier 6421418.
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Abstract
Drawing parallels to the symmetry breaking of atomic orbitals used to explain the periodic table of chemical elements; here we introduce a periodic table of droplet motions, also based on symmetry breaking but guided by a recent droplet spectral theory. By this theory, higher droplet mode shapes are discovered and a wettability spectrometer is invented. Motions of a partially wetting liquid on a support have natural mode shapes, motions ordered by kinetic energy into the periodic table, each table characteristic of the spherical-cap drop volume and material parameters. For water on a support having a contact angle of about 60°, the first 35 predicted elements of the periodic table are discovered. Periodic tables are related one to another through symmetry breaking into a two-parameter family tree.