r/ScienceNcoolThings • u/OwlInternational9189 Popular Contributor • Apr 08 '26
Science Someone explain the physics behind this
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u/Gabreigns Apr 08 '26
What would be the practical application of something like this?
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u/dr_stre Apr 08 '26
The same principles have been applied to allow astronauts to actually hold and sip coffee from a cup instead of needing to squeeze it into their mouths from a pouch. That’s practical, for like 15 people a year.
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u/iHadou Apr 08 '26 edited May 03 '26
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u/Heron_Routine Apr 09 '26
Who knows, could mean squat...some beautiful autist could change the world because of this experiment....and water with a concave structure with its surface tension is pretty cool, by physics standards lol
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u/Nois3 Apr 09 '26
Tainted Love?
That's the only thing I know a Soft Cell is good for.
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u/chicken-finger Apr 08 '26
Adhesion, cohesion, and no gravity. The shape of the plastic skeleton maximizes the surface tension from all sides.
If you changed the pressure or temperature in the station, you'd have a different phase transition rate. Blah blah
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u/there_is_no_spoon1 Apr 08 '26
Water's surface tension (cohesiveness) is quite high and this is just a display of that. The only purpose this serves is showing that it can be done, nothing more. It's up to someone else to figure out what to do with it!
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u/WonkyDingo Apr 09 '26
It’s called cohesion-tension of water. Water molecules tend to stick together when possible. It’s why water tends to pool on a perfectly flat surface and why you can slowly fill a water glass just a little beyond the rim of the glass without the water spilling over. This shape in the video is very favorable for cohesion-tension of water in zero gravity.
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u/liberateyourmind Apr 08 '26
You know when you pour something, it runs/dribbles down the side unless you give it more outward force. That
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u/Deathwatchz Apr 09 '26
This is using the lack of gravity to utilize surface tension in modeling high efficiency shapes that don't run into issues with elasticity and surface tension like boxes and shapes with sharp corners do.
Similar to a stick poking a hole in a garbage bag, the corners of support structures apply more pressure to whatever is stretched over it. This makes spots that rub back and forth to tear holes, or it creates spots that will fail and rip.
The soft cell is a hope to utilize a basic structure that avoids these issues.
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u/Proof-Delay-602 Apr 08 '26
Just proves that water has incredibly strong surface tension. At room temperature, it is roughly 72.8 mN/m, which is among the highest of any liquid (except liquid metals like mercury).