ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Contact angle goniometer

Okay kiddo, a contact angle goniometer is a fancy tool that helps us measure how angles form between liquids and a solid surface.

Imagine you have a glass of water and you take a drop of oil and let it fall onto the surface of the water. Have you ever noticed how the oil doesn't mix with the water? Instead, it forms a little droplet on top of the water.

That's because water and oil have different characteristics, or properties, that cause them to behave differently. And this is where a contact angle goniometer comes in.

The goniometer helps us measure how the droplet of oil interacts with the surface of the water, or any other liquid that we're using. It does this by shining a light onto the droplet and measuring the angle at which the light reflects off the surface of the droplet.

The angle that we measure tells us how strongly the droplet is attracted to the solid surface - in this case, the surface of the water. If the droplet is attracted strongly, it will spread out and form a flat shape on the surface of the water. If it's not attracted very strongly, it will form a rounded shape like a droplet.

Scientists and engineers use contact angle goniometers to study all sorts of different surfaces and liquids. For example, they might use it to understand how oil sticks to the surfaces of different materials, or to help design new coatings that repel water or other liquids.

Pretty cool, huh?