Splash (fluid mechanics)

In fluid mechanics, a splash is a sudden disturbance to the otherwise quiescent free surface of a liquid (usually water). The disturbance is typically caused by a solid object suddenly hitting the surface, although splashes can occur in which moving liquid supplies the energy. This use of the word is onomatopoeic. Splash also happens when a liquid droplet impacts on a liquid or a solid surface. In this case, a symmetric corona is usually formed as shown in Harold Edgerton's famous milk splash photography. Historically, Worthington (1908) was the first one who systematically investigated the splash dynamics using photographs.