Impact of water droplets on a flat, solid surface was studied using both experiments and numerical simulation. Liquid–solid contact angle was varied in experiments by adding traces of a surfactant to water. Impacting droplets were photographed and liquid–solid contact diameters and contact angles were measured from photographs. A numerical solution of the Navier–Stokes equation using a modified SOLA‐VOF method was used to model droplet deformation. Measured values of dynamic contact angles were used as a boundary condition for the numerical model. Impacting droplets spread on the surface until liquid surface tension and viscosity overcame inertial forces, after which they recoiled off the surface. Adding a surfactant did not affect droplet shape during the initial stages of impact, but did increase maximum spread diameter and reduce recoil height. Comparison of computer generated images of impacting droplets with photographs showed that the numerical model modeled droplet shape evolution correctly. Accurate predictions were obtained for droplet contact diameter during spreading and at equilibrium. The model overpredicted droplet contact diameters during recoil. Assuming that dynamic surface tension of surfactant solutions is constant, equaling that of pure water, gave predicted droplet shapes that best agreed with experimental observations. When the contact angle was assumed constant in the model, equal to the measured equilibrium value, predictions were less accurate. A simple analytical model was developed to predict maximum droplet diameter after impact. Model predictions agreed well with experimental measurements reported in the literature. Capillary effects were shown to be negligible during droplet impact when We≫Re1/2. ©1996 American Institute of Physics.