What exactly is the shape of a Rain drop, well most of us know its tear shaped. But you know what? the truth is, its not tear shaped.
Advertisements, magazines, artist’s representations, Children science books and even weather report channels present raindrops as tear shaped, but the real fact is, Rain drops are not Tear Shaped they are actually spherical and varies in shape as the size increases.
Rain Drops are not tear-shaped
So here’s what it looks like
* Small raindrops (radius < 1 millimeter (mm)) are spherical
* larger ones assume a shape more like that of a hamburger bun. ( 2mm and 3mm)
* When they get larger than a radius of about 4.5 mm they rapidly become distorted into a shape rather like a parachute with a tube of water around the base — and then they break up into smaller drops
These are cross-sections through the drop. Imagine spinning the drop through a vertical axis to see the real shape. So, what looks like some teardrops in the final illustration on the right is actually closer to being a tube of liquid just before it breaks up into small spherical droplets again.
So, next time when you watch weather report, be sure to recall that rain drops are not tear shaped
Source: USGS, Bad Rain
