The Trail of the Drops

What remains on a solid withdrawn out of bath of liquid (or the converse issue raised by the trail of a moving drop) is a question of considerable practical importance, and which has been discussed at length in the case of wetting liquids. Here we are interested in what happens when the liquid only partially wets the solid. We observe a sharp cry-wet transition as a function of the velocity. The position of the threshold is shown to depend strongly on the wetting conditions. We then study the dry regime more carefully. It is shown in particular that even at low velocities microscopic traces of liquid are deposited on the solid.