Introduction

    When a drop of water falls into a larger body of water, one of two things must happen.  Either the drop will form a bubble on the surface of the larger body of water, or it will form a column that rises from below the surface.  The goal of our experiment was to find out what the key factors were that caused each of these occurrences.  Ideas for our experimentation with different variables of splash phenomena came from Worthington's A Study of Splashes.  After careful reading and evaluation we decided that we would test three variables; the height from which the water is dropped, the surface area of the container into which the drop is falling, and the oscillation of the drop as it comes into contact with the surface of the larger body of water.

    The objective of our lab was to study how the three variables mentioned above affected bubble formation.  We conducted this experiment in a controlled environment, varying only one thing at a time.  This worked well because it allowed us first to determine whether or not that particular variable affected the bubble at all, and if so, how much when compared to the other two variables.  The purpose of our lab was to find out: Do these variables affect bubble formation? If so, how much?  What is the most important factor of bubble formation?  By completing our objective, we would be able to answer all of these questions and more.