![]() This results in a greater curvature at the top surface than the base. In this region, the air pressure is significantly lower than that of the base of the drop. The layer of air surrounding the drop forms an unsteady region at the top surface. ![]() When moving around a large raindrop, air behaves in the same manner as that of an airplane wing. However, air has some viscosity and it is enough to influence the shape of the drops. Up to this point, we assumed that the drops fall through a perfectly non-viscous fluid. This surprising revelation is because of another phenomenon known as viscosity (the resistance offered to the flow of any liquid). In reality, however, it is the exact opposite. On the more technical side, the combination of hydrostatic and aerodynamic principles should result in a flatter top and a curvier bottom. That many sources can’t be wrong, right? I mean, even Google is in on this!Īs the raindrop gets larger, it gets heavier and at a point splits into two drops. Weather icons used throughout the media are illustrative of this widespread fallacy, which is obvious if you do a simple Google search. Even teachers (including professors!) are actively perpetuating this urban myth. The weather forecasts on television depict raindrops as teardrops, which leads to common people being accidentally taught that raindrops have that shape. Or at least, that’s what they’re made to think. Well, in this case, the people are 100% right. Around 99% of them would draw it like a shower of teardrops exiting the clouds. Ask a bunch of random people to draw a raindrop falling from the clouds. It’s common knowledge that a falling raindrop has a shape that resembles a teardrop. If the raindrop becomes too large in size, it splits in two and reacquires its original spherical shape. The size of the drops increases as they come closer to the Earth’s surface, and the larger size also results in a higher velocity. Meteorologists have known for years that an actual raindrop is almost perfect sphere, but the shape of the larger drops is due to external forces like aerodynamic and gravitational ones. The popular belief that raindrops have the shape of teardrops is incorrect.
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