How to make water splash less?

dotancohen

Is there a term for the height that a liquid splashes above it's surface when a body falls into it?

There is a certain system in our house that is designed to drop viscoplastics at quasistatic speeds into a water vessel from a height of about 20 cm. Under normal operating conditions the water in the vessel does not splash onto the receptacle dropping the viscoplastics. However, this week the receptacle is ejecting a water-based substance at high speed, which causes the water in the vessel to splash up higher than normal. This is rather uncomfortable. Are there any common household products which one could add to water to reduce the height of the splash? I tried salt but there is no effective way of mixing it and it settles too quickly.

Thanks.

cragar

put baffles in the tank.

dotancohen

Thanks, Cragar. The tank is actually a toilet, and that would be hard to clean! I did find that draping two layers of toilet paper over the water does help, though.

Redbelly98

Good solution, you put disposable baffles in the tank

The original post here would make a great entry in a "Guess what is being described here" contest.

But seriously, hope you're better soon dotancohen.

DaleSpam

Excellent description! I hope you feel well soon too.

dotancohen

That's pretty much the reverse path of how I got to posting: I tried to reduce the problem to something academic-sounding in the hopes that bells would start ringing. But I'm not a chemical engineer.

But it sounds like time for a contest! I'd love to see what others here come up with.

Finally starting too, thanks.

tasp77

LOL!

How about increasing the viscosity of receptive fluid.

Maybe Jello . . . .


(BTW, the splash phenomenon described in the OP is known as 'Neptune's Kiss')

dotancohen

That's a great idea, seeing how unsuccessful I've been in increasing the viscosity of the effluvium. I'll see if I have some gelatin, though I don't know how well it will work without cooling.


I suppose that is a better moniker than "Uranus' endearment".

Redbelly98

A friend of mine has suggested trying some olive oil, which would float on the surface.

dotancohen

That's a good idea, thanks.

For the interested, talcum powder works as well by increasing the surface tension. Protip: powder it in when you leave so that it will be ready for when you return. You won't have the patience to powder properly when you need it.

dotancohen

I just found this thread:
http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=69402
"Water wont splash in a vacuum"

The OP of the thread asks about useful applications of this knowledge. I don't want to be the one to tell him about this application!

Dadface

An alternative solution would be to lower the falling bodies slowly by a rope.

xxChrisxx

As you described the problem is not the operation of the receptacle, it's the input that needs to be altered. May I suggest some sort of additive.

Something similar to this.
Additive technical Specification

Clever-Name

I think you missed the point of his post. Reread the original post with more... unsanitary thoughts

dotancohen

Thanks, Chris. Due to problems with the output buffering, the input stream was running on minimum bandwidth.

Things are returning to normal now, though. I think posting about it helped. Oh no, I've become this:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/4/23/