Cavitation's the formation of vapour bubbles of a flowing liquid in a region where the pressure of the liquid falls below its vapor pressure. Cavitation's usually divided into two classes of behavior: inertial (or transient) cavitation, and noninertial cavitation. Inertial cavitation's the process where a void or bubble in a liquid rapidly collapses, producing a shock wave. Such cavitation often occurs in pumps, propellers, impellers, and in the vascular tissues of plants. Noninertial cavitatio… (More on Cavitation)