6 ms·
What causes the sound of a dripping tap and how do you stop it?
- mchahn 8y agoThis is at least the second time that tap dripping was involved in a scientific study. The first that I know of is when some Santa Cruz (hippie capital) students set up electronics to record the timing of drips for a paper. They were going to break the pattern down to understand it. They tried and tried but the pattern always seemed random. With the help of other researchers they discovered it was caused by chaos. This was the first time that chaos theory was described, although Feynman had noticed that some equations behaved weirdly when banging on his calculator.
- voxadam 8y agoInteresting. Is this the paper? https://doi.org/10.1016/0375-9601(85)90065-9 https://doi.org/10.1016/0375-9601(85)90065-9
- btrettel 8y agoYes. There's also this book: http://www.worldcat.org/title/dripping-faucet-as-a-model-chaotic-system/oclc/507926680 http://www.worldcat.org/title/dripping-faucet-as-a-model-cha...
- qaute 8y agoIn fact, the interaction of water movements has good dynamical properties for liquid state machine (reservoir) computing [1] (purely as an interesting demonstration). [1] "Pattern Recognition in a Bucket": https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-540-39432-7_63 https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-540-39432-...
- Ono-Sendai 8y agoChaos theory predates that, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_theory
- dejawu 8y agoOne clever solution I've seen, if you can't fix it right away, is to tie a string from the spout and hang it down to the drain. The water runs along the string instead of falling and dripping.
- martin-adams 8y agoI had a dripping pipe over my power shower pump and couldn't do anything immediately. So I taped a metal straw from the source of the drop angled down to a bowl. Worked perfectly.
- newnewpdro 8y agoThis reminds me of a home I saw once with large rusty chains used as down spot channels from the rain gutters, it was pretty neat looking.
- grzm 8y agoRain chains are common in Japan, and decorative as well as useful. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rain_chain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rain_chain
- iancmceachern 8y agoJust this week I was admiring one of these at Bogle Vinyards outside Sacramento.
- abakker 8y agoRain chains are pretty common if you might generate ice, too. Can help create an ice column instead of a mass that tears the gutter off.
- amelius 8y agoOr you could wrap cling-foil around the tap. Saves water too :) (I didn't test this)
- mikeash 8y ago
- ChuckMcM 8y agoSo a polyurethane mat with spikes pointing up to break the surface before impact would quiet it.
- abakker 8y agoLike the fresheners in urinals have?
- whatsstolat 8y agoIts not hard to fix a dripping tap even for an impractical person like me. I guess a good reason not to is to avoid liability if renting.
- mgraczyk 8y agoMy solution if I can't fix the leak is usually to place a sponge or cloth under the tap.
- chrisdhoover 8y agoITT people are so clever in creating a workaround but are unable to perform basic maintenance. Replacing washers is a fundamental skill
- devb 8y agoJust in case you didn't read the article, it makes no mention of the researchers' maintenance ability. "According to the researchers, while the study was purely curiosity-driven, the results could be used to develop more efficient ways to measure rainfall or to develop a convincing synthesised sound for water droplets in gaming or movies, which has not yet been achieved."
- ars 8y agoBecause of course everyone carries a stock of washers, in case of drips happening in the middle of the night. And of course you can shut down the water to the faucet at a moments notice, without disturbing anyone. And the replacements never fail, so it's perfectly fine to start such a project during non business hours, because you'll never have to keep the water off for hours or a weekend waiting for stores to open so you can get the parts you need. And obviously everyone has time to do such a project the moment the drips start, because that's the highest priority.
- King-Aaron 8y ago> Because of course everyone carries a stock of washers I was taught that you should always have a set in the toolbox... > And of course you can shut down the water to the faucet at a moments notice I was under the impression that even apartment/units have a separate water main valve to isolate the individual unit? My previous places did, although I more frequently rent houses. > And the replacements never fail They honestly rarely do fail when you put a fresh washer in. > And obviously everyone has time to do such a project the moment the drips start It honestly takes so little time to change a washer, I'm surprised that you've made such a long post about it, haha. A tap is a machine with one moving part... It's pretty straight forward and you can change a washer in like a minute.
- KenanSulayman 8y agoThe Cambridge University video linked to from the article with water drops being filmed “using high-speed cameras and high-sensitivity microphones”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iP3Dwy0RSQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iP3Dwy0RSQ
- amelius 8y agoIt's a bit disappointing that we need high speed cameras to figure this out. I would have expected simulations to be sufficient.
- delinka 8y agoI think the 3D fluid dynamics simulation required to find this might be a much. I always figured "water droplets smashing into another surface" was sufficient. My dripping taps never seem to drip into a puddle of water, but on the sink surface. With the high-speed capture work from years ago on why droplets splash back from dry surfaces (because air), I'd have also assumed air would play a role in drops making noise when falling on water. My point: I don't think we could have simulated this effectively; I think a thought experiment would suffice; but ultimately, high-speed would be a necessary step to observe what either experiment predicted.
- adrianmonk 8y agoAs long as we're asking plumbing noise questions, I'll ask one that I've never managed to find a satisfactory answer to. When I turn on the hot water, such as in a tub or a sink, some cold water comes out before hot water does. (I have to wait for the water to "get hot", which of course is not really getting hot, it's flushing cold water out.) I'm pretty sure I'm not imagining this, but I can hear when the water is hot. The only way I know how to describe it is that it sounds a bit calmer. Why is that?
- Negitivefrags 8y agoI saw a video about this recently: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri_4dDvcZeM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri_4dDvcZeM
- adrianmonk 8y agoThanks! I have literally wondered this since I was a kid, and this is the first satisfying explanation I've seen.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- diashreewg 8y agoPut a dishrag under the drip-point, how difficult can it be? It will asorb all drip sounds. Let the drops fall onto a dish-rag.