Figure 2.

Thinning dynamics of a viscoelastic liquid thread. The inset shows a liquid thread between two drops of dilute polymer suspension (courtesy A. Deblais and D. Bonn; see also [56]). The main panel shows the thinning dynamics of the thread as described by an Oldroyd-B fluid, for different values of the relaxation time λ. The thread thickness h_thr is scaled by the initial jet radius R₀, while time is scaled by the capillary time $\tau =\sqrt{\rho R_0^3/\gamma }$. The model continuously bridges between Newtonian liquids (λ = 0) and elastic solids (λ = ∞). (Online version in colour.)