We Know Simple Fluids Can Flow. Turns Out, Some Can Fracture

While working with a hydrocarbon blend, I heard a sharp crack that shouldn't have happened. Simple fluids like crude oil are expected to flow, not snap like glass. Our high-speed cameras revealed these liquids undergo brittle fractures at incredible speeds, challenging the long-held belief that elasticity is required for such breaks. This discovery suggests that cohesive energy, not just elasticity, dictates when a liquid will shatter.

"Nobody expected that this would be possible in this kind of simple fluid because viscosity usually just rearranges the molecules."