The tear ducts of wine

John Bush · MIT · 4/20/01

We examine the radial spoke pattern evident in the meniscus region in
glasses of strong alcoholic beverages exhibiting the `tears of wine'
phenomenon. We demonstrate that the pattern results from ridge-like
elevations of the free surface supported by evaporatively-driven
Marangoni convection in the thin film. Vortices associated with the
convective motions are aligned in the streamwise direction by the
surface tension gradient responsible for the sustenance of the
tears. The radial flow is focussed into the ridges, which thus serve
as the principal conduits of fluid for the tears; consequently, we
refer to the ridges as `tear-ducts'. The phenomenon is examined
experimentally, and theoretical and numerical models of
evaporatively-driven Marangoni convection are developed which
reproduce the salient features of the tear-duct phenomenon.


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