The simple truth about raindrops French scientists armed with
ultra-fast video footage say raindrops come in such a
bewildering array of sizes for reasons much simpler than
previously thought. Way back in 1904, scientists noted that
raindrops came in different sizes. For generations,
schoolchildren were taught that raindrops start as micro-
droplets that then gather together in clouds with their
neighbours to become bigger droplets. The common wisdom was that
raindrops come in such a remarkable range of sizes through a
complex interaction between droplets as they fall. Droplets
which bump into other droplets coalesce and become bigger, while
smaller droplets are those that do not bump into as many other
droplets, so the idea went. But Villermaux and Bossa say the
explanation for why raindrops can range from fine droplets to
chubby plops, is much simpler than this. Their movies of falling
water droplets shows the diversity of raindrops is caused by
fragmentation of individual, non-interacting raindrops. They ha