Physics of Wet Dogs Shake Out in High-Speed Videos

Scientists have written "The Wet-Dog Shake,” where they attempt to calculate the optimum speed at which dogs should shake to most efficiently dry their fur.

The team built a mathematical model of the processes involved, reasoning that surface tension between the water and the dog’s hair is what keeps the dog wet. Overcoming that tension requires a centripetal force that exceeds it.  As centripetal force varies with distance from the centre of the creature, its radius is therefore crucial to work out the speed of the oscillations.

Check out the above video to see the slow-motion dog shaking, and read more about the experiment in the referenced article here.