Size distributions of chondrules and dispersed droplets caused by liquid breakup: An application to shock wave conditions in the solar nebula

We present the results of an aerodynamic liquid dispersion experiment using initially molten silicate samples. We investigate the threshold of breakup and the size distribution of dispersed droplets. The breakup threshold is consistent with the previous experiments using water and a mixture of water and glycerol. Also, we confirm the previous results that the size distributions of dispersed droplets are represented by an exponential form and that the characteristic size of dispersed droplets is related to the dynamic pressure of high-velocity gas flow. The size distribution has a similar form to that of chondrules, though the experiment is not exactly corresponding to the shock heating models for chondrule formation that consider solid precursors which are molten by the shocks. The experimental results indicate that, if liquid chondrule-precursors were dispersed by high-velocity flow, the dynamic pressure of the flow is ∼ 10   kPa . A chondrule formation condition in a shock-wave heating model suggests that this pressure can be realized at the regions within ∼ 1   AU in the minimum solar-nebula mass models. However, if the nebula had a larger mass and gravitational instabilities occurred, this pressure may be realized in the spiral arms at 2–3 AU and chondrules may be formed in asteroid belt.