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A superfluid has a property that makes it creep up the walls of its container and escape it until it's empty.

How is it possible that the fluid performs work (against the force of gravity)? I can imagine setting it up so that after dripping to the larger container, there is an indentation on the ceiling so that when it climbs the larger container, it drips back to the smaller one, and keeps moving in a loop. Is it possible?

Superfluidity explanation

Ruslan Oblov
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  • I don't really know the answer, but I have two suggestions. First, the claim is that the liquid flows along the surface. This means it benefits from capillary action/adhesion. The liquid gains energy by sticking to the surface and it gains more energy the more spread out it is along the surface. Second, note that in the end, the liquid drips off the bottom. It ends up downhill. It may be that the ability to flow with zero resistance allows the liquid to "tunnel through a potential barrier" in some sense. – AXensen Aug 03 '23 at 12:00
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    Usual explanation is surface tension: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1103.0517 – Roger V. Aug 03 '23 at 12:01

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