Electrostatics influence the movement of drops on surfaces

Something as simple as the motion of water drops on surfaces should actually be understood--one would think. In fact there are still numerous unanswered questions about the forces acting on a sliding droplet. A team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in collaboration with colleagues from TU Darmstadt has now discovered: In addition to surface energy and viscous friction within the droplet, electrostatics also play a significant role. The results were recently publi...