Falling stream of water > individual droplets

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To determine when a stream of water breaks into droplets, understanding the role of surface tension and gravity is crucial. Bernoulli's principle can help calculate the stream's diameter at different points. The phenomenon governing the breakup is known as Rayleigh instability, which describes how surface tension influences jet dynamics. This topic is well-documented in Chandrasekhar's book on hydrodynamic stability. Overall, surface tension is the primary factor driving the breakup of the water stream into discrete droplets.
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Hi,

I'm looking at finding a way to determine when a stream of water of a certian diameter coming from a hole at a certian pressure will break apart due to gravity and surface tension into descrete droplets.

Bernoulli's principle can give me the diameter of the stream at various times but I don't know what exactly governs the breaking apart of the stream into droplets.

Any help?
 
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Look into "Rayleigh instability."
 
This problem (jet dynamics) is very old, and a definitive presentation is in Chandrasekhar's book "hydrodynamic and hydromagnetic stability" (Dover). Surface tension drives the jet breakup.
 

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