If you drop identical spheres into water would you expect the same splash?  It turns out that a molecule thin layer can make a huge difference in the size of the splash.

New Scientist reports that Lydéric Bocquet at the Claude-Bernard University in Lyon, France, and colleagues studied this phenomenon.  They found that a glass ball, cleaned thoroughly with hydrogen peroxide, sulphuric acid and alcohol, would produce a very small plop when dropped in water.  However, adding a nano-layer of silane converted the ball from hydrophilic (water attracting) to hydrophobic (water repelling).  The hydrophobic spheres carried a layer of air with them into the water creating large splashes.

NewScientist has videos of the splashes.