search

UMD    AML





"'Inverted Cheerios Effect' Returns Physics to the Breakfast Table" ran in The New York Times on July 13, 2016.

The study profiled in the article, co-authored by Mechanical Engineering Assistant Professor Siddhartha Das and an international team of scientists, sheds new light on the interaction between two liquid drops on soft, squishy materials.

It begins:

"Is it polite to discuss the fundamental forces of the universe at the breakfast table? The Cheerios effect — which described why those little O’s clump together on the surface of milk in your bowl — brought physics to morning mealtimes when it was identified more than 10 years ago. Now, scientists are extending that conversation over breakfast with 'the inverted Cheerios effect.' But for this one, you should swap your bowl of cereal for a pan full of Jell-O.

Here’s why: The Cheerios effect isn’t really about cereal, it’s about how solids come together atop liquids. The lessons you can learn from playing with your breakfast are so broad that astrophysicists have used them to better understand how gravity binds objects in space. Now, a group of European and American scientists have asked: What would happen if the roles of solids and liquids were reversed? How do liquids behave atop solids?"

Continue reading at The New York Times.

The paper based on the study, "Liquid drops attract or repel by the inverted Cheerios effect," was recently published in the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Click here to read the Clark School news item about this paper.



July 14, 2016


«Previous Story  

 

 

Current Headlines

Agents of Positive Change: Highlighting Women Maryland Engineers

Balachandran, Cameron, Yu Receive 2024 MURI Award

A Special Ceremony Honoring Bala Balachandran

Alumni Spotlight: José Cyrano Ruiz Cabarrús

3D and Beyond: UMD Researchers Explore Synthetic Dimensions

Celebrating Black Engineers: Philip Lovell

Fitzgerald Walker Honored By MCAMW

Clark School's Online Master of Engineering Soars to No. 6 National Rank

Celebrating the Impact of Black Maryland Engineers and Leaders

A Wider Lens

 
 
Back to top  
AML Home Clark School Home UMD Home ENME Home