The ‘Cheerios Effect’

Overview

Authors: Dominic Vella & L. Mahadevan

Source: arXiv:cond-mat/0411688v3 [cond-mat.soft], 2008

Soft matter keywords: bubbles, interfacial tension, wetting

Abstract

Fig.1 : D.Vella & L.Mahadevan, arxiv 2008

The authors of this publication investigate the physics underlying the 'Cheerios effect', i.e. the aggregation of breakfast cereal floating in a bowl of milk! The phenomenon is not limited to breakfast cereal, but also applies to bubbles floating in all sorts of liquids. Its understanding paves the way for many interesting micro-electromechanical applications. The authors start out by citing the well-known forces at play between infinite plates of different or same wettabilities, immersed in liquid. Next they provide a suggestion on how these laws might differ for spherical objects floating in liquid. Finally they propose a dynamic model for particles floating in a liquid.

Soft Matter Snippet

Fig.2 : D.Vella & L.Mahadevan, arxiv 2008

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