Book 7, Question 9
Why Do Raindrops Look Like Teardrops in Cartoons?
In cartoons, raindrops have a pointy top and a round bottom, like a teardrop. But real falling raindrops are shaped more like rounded hamburger buns. The teardrop is art, not physics.
From the book
Page from A Million Whys Book 7
More fun facts
- Raindrops start out round because of surface tension, which works like a skin holding the water together.
- Small raindrops, less than 1 millimeter across, stay roughly round.
- Drops 2 to 3 millimeters across get pushed and flattened by the air as they fall.
- Drops bigger than about 4.5 millimeters stretch into a parachute shape and then break into smaller drops.
- NASA's GPM satellite uses radar to measure raindrop sizes layer by layer inside clouds.
- The radar on the GPM satellite was built by Japan's space agency, JAXA.
Questions kids ask
How big can a raindrop get?
Drops bigger than about 4.5 millimeters usually break apart into smaller drops.
Why are small raindrops round?
Surface tension holds small drops in a roughly round shape.