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Surface tension is the tendency of liquid surfaces at rest to shrink into the minimum surface area possible. Surface tension is what allows objects with a higher density than water such as razor blades and insects (e.g. water striders) to float on a water surface without becoming even partly submerged.
Surface tension prevents the clip from submerging and the water from overflowing the glass edges. Temperature dependence of the surface tension of pure water. Water has an unusually high surface tension of 71.99 mN/m at 25 °C [64] which is caused by the strength of the hydrogen bonding between water molecules. [65] This allows insects to walk ...
A: The bottom of a concave meniscus. B: The top of a convex meniscus. In physics (particularly fluid statics), the meniscus (pl.: menisci, from Greek 'crescent') is the curve in the upper surface of a liquid close to the surface of the container or another object, produced by surface tension.
Water potential is the potential energy of water per unit volume relative to pure water in reference conditions. Water potential quantifies the tendency of water to move from one area to another due to osmosis , gravity , mechanical pressure and matrix effects such as capillary action (which is caused by surface tension ).
Köhler theory combines the Kelvin effect, which describes the change in vapor pressure due to a curved surface, with Raoult's Law, which relates the vapor pressure to the solute concentration. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] It was initially published in 1936 by Hilding Köhler , Professor of Meteorology in the Uppsala University.
The high surface tension of water causes droplets to assume a nearly spherical shape, since a sphere has minimal surface area, and this shape therefore minimizes the solid-liquid surface energy. On contact of liquid with a surface, adhesion forces result in wetting of the surface.
Surface living animals such as the water strider typically have hydrophobic feet covered in small hairs that prevent the feet from breaking the surface and becoming wet. Another insect known to walk on the water surface is the ant species Polyrhachis sokolova. The pygmy gecko (Coleodactylus amazonicus), due to its small size and hydrophobic ...
Surfactants can have a significant effect on the spreading coefficient. When a surfactant is added, its amphiphilic properties cause it to be more energetically favorable to migrate to the surface, decreasing the interfacial tension and thus increasing the spreading coefficient (i.e. making S more positive).