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Through the conservation of energy, a rubber ball will never bounce as high as there from which it is dropped. But are liquids subject to the same force?

In particular, if I a pour liquid on the ground, can it splash as high as its origin? I know fluid mechanics makes some things different, is that one of them?

Keeping in mind that splashing can generate drops that are smaller than the original volume of water, can those drops bounce higher ? How does the bouncing potential of a drop relate to its volume ?

ZakC
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2 Answers2

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In principle, when a drop hits the ground and it disintegrates, it is possible that a fragment of the original splashes higher than the height from which the initial drop fell - but it's not possible that the entire drop would do that: that would violate conservation of energy.

Note that during the collision of liquid with a solid surface, very high pressures can be generated. It is the release of this pressure that can propel parts of the drop to greater velocities - sideways, or in some instances up.

See for example this answer for a bit more about the mechanisms that cause high pressure in drops impacting a solid surface.

Community
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Floris
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http://gizmodo.com/these-trampolining-water-droplets-seem-to-defy-physics-1741313139

Yes, droplets can bounce higher than they were initially, but the bouncing droplet is smaller than the initial one, so energy is conserved.

akhmeteli
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