Plateau–Rayleigh instability
FLUID BREAKUP OF A FALLING STREAM
Plateau-Raleigh instability; Rayleigh instability; Plateau-Rayleigh instability
The Plateau–Rayleigh instability, often just called the Rayleigh instability, explains why and how a falling stream of fluid breaks up into smaller packets with the same volume but less surface area. It is related to the Rayleigh–Taylor instability and is part of a greater branch of fluid dynamics concerned with fluid thread breakup.