Studies on immiscible alloys

Abstract

To illustrate the behavior of immiscible liquids of different densities in zero-gravity and to determine the rate of coalescence like droplets, a demonstration experiment was performed on the Skylab 4 mission. Dispersions of oil-in-water and of water-in-oil were prepared by the astronauts and their appearance photographed over a time span of 10 hours. The experiment indicated that all emulsions were stable over this period and that the coalescent rate was at least 3 times 10 to the 5th power times smaller on Skylab than on earth. The recorded melting of a cylindrical piece of ice on Skylab 3 is used to study the mode of heat transfer for the latent heat of melting in low-gravity.