Idea Blog (02-03-10): Water Drops & Worm Burrows

A droplet of water is a dome-like space where things both exist inside and outside of the droplet. I am focusing on what is living inside of the drop. There are four descriptive elements of water and they are: optics, sound, shape and size.

Optics

Due to the different refractive index of water and air, refraction and reflection occur on the surfaces of raindrops, leading to rainbow formation.

Sound

The major source of sound when a droplet hits a liquid surface is the resonance of excited bubbles trapped underwater. These oscillating bubbles are responsible for most liquid sounds, such as running water or splashes, as they actually consist of many drop-liquid collisions.

Shape

The classic shape associated with a drop (with a pointy end in its upper side) is actually an optical effect due to light reflections and the drop's rapid movement. The shape of a drop falling through a gas is actually more or less spherical. Larger drops tend to be flatter on the bottom part due to the pressure of the gas they move through.

Size

Although scientists traditionally thought that raindrops came in various sizes due to collisions on the way down to the ground, French researchers concluded that it was due to the drops' interaction with air, which deforms the drop and often causes it to split into smaller drops (source).

Like I mentioned, I want to focus on the life that can inhibit even the smallest drop of water. In the video I posted below, they dramatized what goes on in our water.

In my Physical Geology class, we have been discussing a variety of topics -- one thing we discussed were these little worms that live in the ground and poke their heads up for food. As rocks are being formed, you can sometimes see where their homes were. Worm burrows are actually quite beautiful. They are lines, which can be curved or incredibly straight. They create patterns and designs in not only solidified rocks, but in sand too. I am interested in the permanence of their homes. Though they may be destroyed, they are memorialized.

Worm burrow in rocks (image source)

worm burrows in sand (image source)