Maximum Diameter of Impacting Liquid Droplets

The impact velocity of a liquid droplet can be deduced from its spatter pattern, but there has been controversy concerning details of how droplets respond after impact. The authors show which forces play a role in impact and spreading, and obtain an expression relating impact velocity to droplet volume and maximum diameter of the resulting pattern. This offers important insight for the analysis of bloodstains in forensic science, as well as for inkjet printing and other applications.