Monica Luebke – Fall 2023 Team Third

This photo depicts a vegetable oil boundary layer against a tank of water. The difference in densities allows the vegetable oil to “float” on top of the water. A water-soluble food coloring was carefully inserted into the layer of oil. Due to the composition, and the characteristics that makes it a water-soluble dye, the dye droplet remained suspended in the oil fluid until the forces of gravity overcame the surface tension forces in which time the droplet fell into the water and diffused. Calculating the Eotvos number allows for the comparison of the gravitational forces against the surface tension forces.

This image was taken with a Nikon D5500 camera with a 18-55 mm lens at a focal length of 40 mm, ISO of 6400, a shutter speed of 1/800 sec, and a f-stop of 7.1.