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How geometry determines the coalescence of low-viscosity drops

The coalescence of water drops on a substrate is studied experimentally. We focus on the rapid growth of the bridge connecting the two drops, which very quickly after contact ensues from a balance of surface tension and liquid inertia. For drops with contact angles below $90^\circ$, we find that the bridge grows with a self-similar dynamics that is characterized by a height $h\sim t^{2/3}$. By contrast, the geometry of coalescence changes dramatically for contact angles at $90^\circ$, for which we observe $h\sim t^{1/2}$, just as for freely suspended spherical drops in the inertial regime. We present a geometric model that quantitatively captures the transition from 2/3 to 1/2 exponent, and unifies the inertial coalescence of sessile drops and freely suspended drops.