. Energy News .




.
WATER WORLD
Why do dew drops do what they do on leaves?
by Staff Writers
Washington DC (SPX) Jan 13, 2012

File image.

Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore once wrote, "Let your life lightly dance on the edges of time like dew on the tip of a leaf." Now, a new study is finally offering an explanation for why small dew drops do as Tagore advised and form on the tips, rather than the flat surfaces, of leaves. It appears in ACS' journal Langmuir.

In the study, Martin E. R. Shanahan observes that drops of water have a preference for exactly where they collect on leaves as their surfaces cool in the morning and afternoon.

Those droplets, which condense from water vapor - moisture - in the air, collect randomly across the surfaces of flat leaves. However, dew drops tend to accumulate at the tips of spindly leaves, even if that means defying gravity by moving upwards.

He explains that an inherent "unwillingness" or "lack of necessity" of water drops to move on a dry surface governs their positioning on flat leaves, causing them to stay where they form.

Dew's tendency to head to the end of finely pointed leaves, however, sent Shanahan looking for a different explanation.

The answer is based on the fundamental principle of free energy, that everything in nature seeks the lowest possible energy state.

Shanahan modeled two types of dew drops on a theoretical (simplified) cone-shaped leaf: a thin, cylindrical sheath of water and a spherical drop centered on the cone's axis. In both cases, he found that the drop lowered its energy by moving toward the point of the leaf.

Related Links
American Chemical Society
Water News - Science, Technology and Politics




.
.
Get Our Free Newsletters Via Email
...
Buy Advertising Editorial Enquiries






.

. Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle



WATER WORLD
Reuse of municipal wastewater has potential to augment future drinking water supplies
Washington DC (SPX) Jan 12, 2012
With recent advances in technology and design, treating municipal wastewater and reusing it for drinking water, irrigation, industry, and other applications could significantly increase the nation's total available water resources, particularly in coastal areas facing water shortages, says a new report from the National Research Council. It adds that the reuse of treated wastewater, also k ... read more


WATER WORLD
EPA Web tool shows greenhouse gas culprits

S. America energy demand drives investment

New FERC Ruling Provides Relief To Besieged Power Grids

China looks at carbon tax, official says in US

WATER WORLD
Ukraine cuts Gazprom import volumes

Rice's 'quantum critical' theory gets experimental boost

Saudi oil output 'stretched to the limit'

Iran warns Gulf states not to make up for oil ban

WATER WORLD
Mortenson Starts Construction of Rim Rock Wind Project

SA Opposition wind policy threatens $3 billion investment

Natural Power launches WindManager in the US

New Research Helps Predict Bat Presence at Wind Energy Facilities

WATER WORLD
Philippines pushes renewable energy

Here comes the sun

Trina Solar Announces Complete Large Rooftop Solar Solution

OCI Solar Power and CPS Energy negotiate largest solar development in US

WATER WORLD
Thousands protest against nuclear power in Japan

Japan probes radioactive apartment block

Rio Tinto completes takeover of uranium miner Hathor

Quake hits eastern Japan; nuclear plant stable

WATER WORLD
US looks ahead after ethanol subsidy expires

Algae for your fuel tank

Fast Track Alternative Fuel Project

Lufthansa wraps up biofuel test on German flights

WATER WORLD
China launches Ziyuan III satellite

Spying on Tiangong

China's space ambitions ally glory with pragmatism

Why The X-37B Is Not Spying On Tiangong

WATER WORLD
Researchers discover particle which could cool the planet

Cut back on soot, methane to slow warming: study

Dramatic Links Found Between Climate Change, Elk, Plants, and Birds

Team finds a better way to gauge the climate costs of land use changes


.

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2012 - Space Media Network. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement