Fundamentals of Capillarity and

Wetting (CLL763)

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Meniscus near a flat plate
❖ Flat plate is immersed inside a hydrophilic liquid.
at any random point A:
𝒑𝒐 + 𝒑𝒄𝒂𝒑 = 𝒑𝒐 + 𝒑𝒉𝒚𝒅
z=h
𝒑𝒄𝒂𝒑 = 𝜿𝝈 and 𝒑𝒉𝒚𝒅 = −ρ𝒈𝒛 θ

=> σ𝒛′′ = ρ𝒈𝒛

A p0
𝒛 → 𝟎 𝒂𝒕 𝒙 → ∞ 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒛 → 𝒉 𝒂𝒕 𝒙 → 𝟎 z=0
p = p0

−𝒙ൗ −𝒙ൗ
or 𝒆 𝒍𝒄
𝒁 𝒙 = 𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒄 𝒁 𝒙 ∝
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Height of the meniscus near a flat plate
❖ At every point on the curve, θ is changing.
𝒅𝜽
σ = ρ𝒈𝒛 s→ length along the interface
𝒅𝒔
𝒅𝒛
now, = −𝒄𝒐𝒔𝜽
𝒅𝒔
𝒅𝜽
=> σ𝒄𝒐𝒔𝜽 = −ρ𝒈𝒛 b.c.: for θ =π/2 , z = 0
𝒅𝒛
𝟏 𝟐
=> 𝝆𝒈𝒛 = σ(𝟏 − 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝜽)
𝟐
at x=0; if z = h and θ = θE

𝒉 = 𝟐 𝒍𝒄 𝟏 − 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝜽𝑬 3
Capillary rise: Imbibition and Jurin’s law
❖ Capillary rise/fall is the most well-known phenomena in capillarity.
❖ Exploited by Plants, birds and insects to manipulate or drink water.
❖ Geophysical settings are influenced by this effect.
❖ First noted by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
❖ Geovanni Borelli (1608-1675) experimentally
demonstrated: h ~ 1/r
❖ James Jurin (1684-1750) theoretically confirmed it.
❖ Hauksbee(1666-1713) studied systematically.
❖ Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749- 1827) provided a
complete understanding of the phenomenon in
1806.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP9mn-X9i2Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gm81GghMrk
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Capillary rise: Imbibition and Jurin’s law
❖ Laplace: for capillary rise, surface energy of dry tube > that of wet tube.
That means: 𝝈𝑺𝑽 > 𝝈𝑺𝑳
with this concept, imbibition (or impregnation) parameter (I) is defined.
That means: 𝐈 = 𝝈𝑺𝑽 − 𝝈𝑺𝑳 = 𝝈 cos 𝜃𝐸
recall, 𝑺 = 𝝈𝑺𝑽 − (𝝈 + 𝝈𝑺𝑳 )
so, 𝐈 = 𝑺 + 𝝈
Case 1: I > 0; system lowers its energy if wet. Liquid will rise.
Case 2: I < 0; surface energy of dry surface is lower than that of a wet
one. Liquid will descent / fall.
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Capillary rise: Imbibition and Jurin’s law
I > 0 is easily met than S > 0 (complete wetting)
❖ As a result, most liquids soak sponges or different porous media;
whereas complete wetting is far less common.
❖ If θE is less than 90o; it will rise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ5NcTmVnkQ 6
Capillary rise: Jurin’s law
R

air θ
h

liquid

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Capillary rise: Jurin’s law
Energy argument:
initial surface energy (dry): Ei = 2πRhσSV
final surface energy (wet): Ef = 2πRhσSL
change in surface energy (wet): ΔE =Ef - Ei
ΔE = Ef - Ei = - 2πRh(σSV - σSL) = - 2πRhI
𝟏
change in gravitational potential energy: 𝑬𝒈 = 𝟐 𝝅𝑹𝟐 𝒉𝟐 𝝆𝒈
𝟏
total change: 𝑬 = ΔE + 𝑬𝒈 = − 2πRh(σSV − σSL) + 𝝅𝑹𝟐 𝒉𝟐 𝝆𝒈
𝟐
‘E’ will be minimum with respect to ‘h’ when dE/dh =0
𝝈𝑺𝑽 −𝝈𝑺𝑳 𝟐𝑰 𝟐𝝈 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝜽𝑬 𝟐𝝈 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝜽𝑬
=> 𝒉 = 𝟐 = = => 𝒉 = Jurin’s law
𝝆𝒈𝑹 𝝆𝒈𝑹 𝝆𝒈𝑹 𝝆𝒈𝑹
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Contact angle hysteresis

advancing receding
θ equilibrium contact angle; θA advancing angle; θR receding angle

contact angle hysteresis= θA- θR

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Contact angle hysteresis

liquid trapped in a vertical tube

𝟐𝝅𝑹𝝈 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝜽𝟏 − 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝜽𝟐 = 𝝅𝑹𝟐 𝒉𝝆𝒈 𝜽 𝟏 > 𝜽𝑹
𝟐𝝅𝑹𝝈 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝜽𝑹 − 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝜽𝑨 > 𝝅𝑹𝟐 𝒉𝝆𝒈 𝜽 𝟐 < 𝜽𝑨
(For equilibrium)
If 𝜽𝑨 = 𝜽𝑹 (no hysteresis), there can be no equilibrium.
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Contact angle hysteresis
❖ The drop weight supported by the capillary force
associated with the contact angle hysteresis.
Maximum pinnig force per unit length:
R
𝒇𝒎𝒂𝒙
𝒑 = 𝝈∆ cos 𝜽
If 𝜽𝟏 = 𝜽𝟐 drop will fall due to unbalanced
pinned drop on gravitational force.
a vertical pane
for the hanging drop;
𝑭𝒈 ~ 𝝆𝑹𝟑 𝒈 ; 𝑭𝒄 ~𝟐𝝅𝑹𝝈 ∥ 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝜽𝟏 − 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝜽𝟐 ∥
𝑭𝒈 𝝆𝒈𝑹𝟐
so, ~ ≡ 𝑩𝒐; which means drops will grow until Bo>1;
𝑭𝒄 𝝈
and will then fall downwards.
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