Water: it’s everywhere in one form or another. And yet, we often take it for granted.
This video shows what happens when this remarkable liquid flows over a surface. But, not just any ordinary surface-- this surface is superhydrophobic. That is, it’s a surface that repels water (like a waterproof tablecloth, for example). What you will find is that the stream of water in this video is actually pushed off the surface completely by the repulsive force! Since the water cannot defeat gravity for long, it eventually falls back to the surface, making a neat liquid bridge.
What happens when we throw a hydrophilic surface into the mix? Hydrophilic surfaces attract water, causing it to spread. If the water flows over alternating hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces, do we still get liquid bridges?
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