Leidenfrost effect

Leidenfrost effect

The Leidenfrost effect was first noted by Johann Gottlob Leidenfrost in 1756 in A Tract About Some Properties of Common Water. The phenomenon occurs when a liquid drop comes into contact with a mass which is hotter than the Leidenfrost point (which is significantly greater than the boiling point) of the liquid. On hitting the mass, a thin insulating layer of vapour forms which dramatically slows the evaporation of the remainder of the droplet and it thus appears to hover over the plate as it slowly becomes smaller and smaller.