It is a common observation that honey(or any other viscous fluid),tends to overlap/coil/wind up as it reaches the rigid surface. There is this little bend near the pile-up. Why is this so? How does a liquid 'communicate' where it has to start coiling? And why is the coil a sure thing? Can one mathematically determine the pattern formation, and if yes,what would be the factors involved.
Edit: I experimented further, and noticed something interesting . I used honey, and oil as a control. While the oil behaved as expected , the honey was not so.
Up until a certain height,the falling fluid formed uniform patterns(coiling) but soon it became haphazard and criss cross.Further increasing the height caused the pattern to stabilise again. What is going on in this intermediate height?