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Capillarity

Water in a glass container has a concave meniscus due to capillary forces attracting water molecules to the walls of the container. Mercury in a glass container has a convex meniscus as capillary forces repel mercury molecules from the walls. The shape of the liquid surface is determined by the net force on surface molecules from liquid, container, and gas molecules. For a concave surface, the net force points outward from the container; for a convex surface the net force points inward towards the container. Capillarity describes the rise or fall of liquid in narrow tubes due to the balance of capillary and hydrostatic pressures.

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Katka Šinalová
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20 views5 pages

Capillarity

Water in a glass container has a concave meniscus due to capillary forces attracting water molecules to the walls of the container. Mercury in a glass container has a convex meniscus as capillary forces repel mercury molecules from the walls. The shape of the liquid surface is determined by the net force on surface molecules from liquid, container, and gas molecules. For a concave surface, the net force points outward from the container; for a convex surface the net force points inward towards the container. Capillarity describes the rise or fall of liquid in narrow tubes due to the balance of capillary and hydrostatic pressures.

Uploaded by

Katka Šinalová
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Capillarity

Water in a glass container

Surface of liquid is concave,


liquid wets the walls of the container

Mercury in a glass container

Free surface of liquid is


convex, liquid doesn´t wet
the walls of the container

MENISCUS – is a curve in the surface of a molecular


substance when it touches another material

Molecular explanation of the shape of liquid surfaces


-different shape of the free surface of liquid is caused due to the forces among the
other molecules of different substances
Forces acting on the given liquid molecule :

F1 – resultant force due to the liquid molecules in the sphere of influence


F2 - resultant force due to the molecules in the container in the sphere of influence
F3 - resultant force due to the molecules of gas (air) in the sphere of influence
FG – weight force of the molecule

Forces acting on the given liquid molecule


-the magnitudes of the forces F3 a FG are very small
- they are negligible

FOR CONCAVE
Direction of the resultant force acting on the molecule is out of the container
-the system is in equilibrium when the resultant force
is perpendicular to free surface of the liquid
-free surface near the wall of the container is concave

FOR
CONVEX
Direction of the resultant force acting on the molecule is to the container
-the system is in equilibrium when the resultant force
is perpendicular to the free surface of the liquid
-the free surface of the liquid is convex

If we pour .......into the glass container:

-liquid wets the walls of the -liquid doesn´t wet the walls of the
container, free surface is concave container, free surface is convex

- angle of contact- is the angle that the liquid makes


with the wall of the container to the point of contact

The curve in the free surface of a molecular substance


near the walls in the narrow tubes (capillary tubes),
of the drops and bubbles is caused due to the resultant
force F of surface forces .
The resultant force F - is not equal to 0
- is perpendicular to the free surface

Capillarity:

Capillary attraction
- liquid is elevated in the tube

Capillary repulsion
-liquid is depressed in the tube

Capillary pressure
-is caused by the resultant force of the forces acting on the surface of the liquid, that acts
perpendicular to the cross – sectional area of the capillary tube

Capillarity
-the height of the liquid in the capillary tube is defined by the equilibrium between capillary
and hydrostatic pressure

Capillary tube – long narrow tube usually made of glass with the small radius

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