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Physics

Jets of liquid bounce off hot surfaces without ever touching them

Droplets of fluid have been known to hover above a hot surface, but a new experiment suggests the same can happen to tiny jets of liquid too

By Karmela Padavic-Callaghan

12 November 2024

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

If you cook with stainless steel pans, you are probably familiar with the Leidenfrost effect

Franck Celestini

A jet of liquid can bounce off of a hot plate without ever touching it. This extension of the Leidenfrost effect – the phenomenon that allows beads of water to skitter across a scorching pan – could help improve cooling processes, like those used in things ranging from nuclear reactors to firefighting.

Though first described nearly 300 years ago, the Leidenfrost effect has only been tested with fluid droplets, not squirts of liquid. Until…

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