A CASCADE OF STRUCTURE IN A DROP FALLING FROM A FAUCET

A drop falling from a faucet is a common example of a mass fissioning into two or more pieces. The shape of the liquid in this situation has been investigated by both experiment and computer simulation. As the viscosity of the liquid is varied, the shape of the drop changes drama tically. Near the point of breakup, viscous drops develop long necks t hat then spawn a series of smaller necks with ever thinner diameters. Simulations indicate that this repeated formation of necks can proceed ad infinitum whenever a small but finite amount of noise is present i n the experiment. In this situation, the dynamical singularity occurri ng when a drop fissions is characterized by a rough interface.