Solved: The amazing pictures that explain why no two raindrops are alike
It's a question you might find yourself pondering on a wet weekend - why do raindrops come in so many different shapes and sizes?
Scientists think they have the answer after filming a single water droplet falling through space with a high-speed camera.
It shows a raindrop starts as a sphere but bursts into a shower of smaller droplets within a few hundredths of a second.
The raindrop flattens out before it hollows out and bursts into smaller droplets
Firstly the drop flattens out into a pancake shape. As the pancake widens and thins, the onrush of air causes it to hollow out, like an upturned bag.
The bag inflates beyond the ability of the water's tension to hold it together and shatters.
Prior to this, scientists thought some raindrops smashed into each other forming larger drops while others didn't and remained small.
'Each drop breaks up individually, independently of its neighbours, on its way to earth,' study author Emmanuel Villermaux, from the Aix-Marseille University in France said.
The study, published in the latest edition of the Nature Physics journal could have applications in understanding rainfall patterns and how it affects crop spraying, Villermaux said.
'Understanding how droplets will be distributed can be very important. Take pesticide spraying, for instance. With most sprayers in use today, all it takes is a slight breeze for half of the pesticide to end up in the neighbouring field,' he said.
Most watched News videos
- New video shows Epstein laughing and chasing young women
- British Airways passengers turn flight into a church service
- Police dog catches bag thief who pushed woman to the floor
- Two schoolboys plummet out the window of a moving bus
- Skier dressed as Chewbacca brutally beaten in mass brawl
- JD Vance turns up heat on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
- Epstein describes himself as a 'tier one' sexual predator
- Melinda Gates says Bill Gates must answer questions about Epstein
- Trump slams Kaitlan Collins for lack of smiling over Epstein grilling
- 911 call on Nancy Guthrie's disappearance released
- Buddhist monks in Thailand caught with a stash of porn
- Nancy Guthrie's neighbor speaks out about 'bizarre' disappearance
