Strobe Fountain

This exhibit uses a strobe light to apparently stop the motion of a fountain of drops. The drops are produced regularly by a vibrating nozzle. If the strobe light blinks at the same rate the nozzle vibrates, it catches the water in the same position each time making them appear to be standing still. A non-strobing light can also be lit to reveal what the spray looks like under normal illumination. Because the drop patterns follow strange attractors, they demonstrate nonlinear behavior.