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A graduate student accidently combined oil, water, and nickel, resulting in an odd shape. Scientists observed that the shape-recovering liquid violated the rules of thermodynamics. Instead of reducing the interfacial area and forming a sphere, the liquid mixture resembled a Grecian urn. A team lead by a doctoral student, Anthony Raykh, from the University of Massachusetts Amherst undertook this research, and the results were published in the Journal Nature Physics on April 4th.
The Accidental Discovery
According to the study, Raykh, a polymer science and engineering student, was experimenting with a mixture of water, oil, and nickel particles in a container. He shook the bottle to form an emulsion. The mixture did not split as expected; instead, it created the shape of a Grecian urn. Even after shaking the mixture several times, the liquid retained its form. Thomas Russell, a polymer science and engineering professor, told Live Science that the particles' behavior is unusual. It's peculiar since such a combination does not blend and instead returns to equilibrium.
Challenge to Thermodynamics
The mix reduces the line of separation or interfacial area between the two liquids prior to emulsion. This tendency is governed by the law of thermodynamics, which describes how temperature, work, heat, and energy are related to one another. The liquid often forms spherical droplets with a low surface area. In contrast, the Grecian urn has a larger surface area, which contradicts natural laws and baffles experts.
Magnetic Interactions Take Over
After looking into the peculiar behavior of the particles, they discovered that the interactions between the nickel particles "sort of took over" and broke the rule of thermodynamics, Russell adds. The particles' magnetic poles attracted each other, forming a chain on the liquid's surface. This interaction connects with the phenomena of liquid emulsion. Russell informed the researchers that they had tested particle separation in an oil-water combination. In contrast, Raykh added nickel to the mixture, something no one else did. Thus, no one has seen the form of the Grecian urn with higher interfacial energy.
Strange Case, Not a Violation
This first appeared to call into question the rule of thermodynamics, but Russell stressed that it is just the particles' odd behavior as a result of the magnetic field. This magnetic field affected a high interfacial energy, resulting in a larger surface area shape.
According to Russell, the rule of thermodynamics applies to the entire system rather than just the interactions between individual particles.
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