why is the teardrop the most aerodynamic shape? Would something with a more pointed nose not “slice” through the air more easily?
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It’s not necessarily the “most aerodynamic shape”. It’s more Just the shape water takes when falling. The water droplet isn’t actively trying to cut through the air most efficiently, like a pointy nosed rocket, aircraft, or sports car. Water is just reacting to the airflow around it as it falls.
Air pressure against the bottom (or forward edge) of the drop gives it the round shape. The air flowing around the drop gives it the pointy tail.
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It will also depend on the speed. You have different classes of drag and they grow at different rates with speed.
A raindrop has 3 forces acting on it: The force of gravity pulling it down, air resistance trying to slow it down (pushing it back up) which tries make it aerodynamic, and surface tension trying to make it into a sphere. So you get something vaguely spherical from the tension, but it’s elongated from air resistance with a fat bottom due to gravity.
And as other’s have said, it’s not the most aerodynamic shape. There’s other forces acting on it. the raindrop shape is just the most stable shape that balances those 3 forces.
Drag and turbulence are critical to think about – the leading edge is only half the issue, the trailing edge matters. The teardrop shape creates the most aerodynamic trailing edge, minimizing the turbulence (eddies) that form behind the shape as it’s passing through the air. If there’s a lot of turbulence in the object’s wake, it literally gets pulled backward.