KINETICS OF WETTING IN WASHOUT OF DUST 283 LIGHT oo | L__. va CAMERA amt WHITE REFLECTOR SCREEN “-- DROPLETS —a BATTERY ~ ' VOLTMETER i Ss 2 Oo PINION WAYS =o DROPLETS| Fs / — M OVABLE DROPLET SUPPORT VIVO STATIONARY DROPLET SUPPORT Fig. 1—Experimental setup for coalescence between two water drops. sible to determine the actual instant of wetting because the wire end was hidden by the water. The solid was pushed against the drop at a speed of 125 cm/sec. Photographs were taken of the event at 26,000 frames/sec. Thetotal exposure time was approximately 10 msec. There was approximately 7 msec of useful exposure time(i.e., time after establishment of con- tact). A typical sequence of frames is shown in Fig. 2. The phenomenon is very Similar to that observed with a pair of liquid drops. Onefirst sees a slight flattening of the drop and later a thin lens at the interface. This lens then spreads over the drop. The first appearance of the lens is taken as the indication of wetting or coalescence. The formation of a bond between the drop and the solid is thus indicated by a disturbance of the drop surface. The flattening of the drop is not very pronounced in the frames shown in Fig. 2. Other frames, taken in cases of no

Select target paragraph3