Surface-active monolayers, bubbles, and jet drops

Abstract

High-speed motion picture films (about 3000 frames per second) of bubbles of 0.7 and 1.3 mm diameter bursting at a seawater surface covered with an oleic acid monolayer show that the formation and behavior of the jet drops are profoundly influenced by the monolayer. It is doubtful, however, that monolayers on the surface of natural bodies of water exert as high a surface pressure as does an oleic acid monolayer. Natural monolayers probably affect film drop production more than that of the small jet drops that are important in atmospheric processes.