High School Photo Winner's Showcase

School: Saint Andrews School

Teacher: Paul Gresser

Jacob Seidman, Michael Cherney

Water Droplet Art

This picture was taken using an electronic eye attached to a controller that releases drops of water at certain intervals of time based on distance and rates of acceleration. Upon pressing the start button on the controller, the valve releases a single drop of colored liquid. The drop accelerates from 25 in. above the water line at an acceleration of 9.8 MPS squared. At the 19 inch mark, the drop passes through the electric eye, and sets off the flash of the camera with a delay of 1/11,000 of a second. After passing through the “eye,” a second drop is released. The first drop hits the liquid container, creating an impulse, and submerges into liquid into container, and rebounds out. Nobody is exactly sure why the liquid rebounds instead of dispersing, but one theory is as the droplet hits the liquid, a small amount of air gets caught between the liquid and the drop, preventing the drop from coming in contact with the liquid at the surface. As the air thins out between the liquid and the incoming drop, as the drop moves further down into the liquid. Eventually, the liquid forces the drop back up and out. The second drop hits the first drop coming out of the water, and creates an impulse. In turn, this creates the flattening of the second drop. This causes the entire image to look like a mushroom.