Advertisements
Advertisements
Question
Explain the capillary action.
Advertisements
Solution
If one end of a capillary tube is dipped in a liquid which partially or completely wets the surface of the capillary, the level of liquid in the capillary rises. On the other hand, if the capillary tube is dipped in a liquid which does not wet its surface, the level of liquid in the capillary drops. The phenomenon of the rise or fall of a liquid inside a capillary tube when it is dipped in the liquid is called capillarity.


Consider the points A, B, C, and D such that
i) Point A is just above the convex surface and inside the capillary.
ii) Point B is just below the convex surface inside the capillary.
iii) Point C is just above the plane surface outside the capillary.
iv) Point D is just below the plane surface and outside the capillary, and below the point C.
Let PA, PB, PC, and PD be the pressure values at points A, B, C, and D, respectively. The pressure on the concave side is always greater than that on the convex side.
Capillary fall:
Consider a capillary tube dipped in a liquid which does not wet the surface. The shape of the liquid meniscus in the capillary is upper convex.
∴ PB > PA
As points A and C are at the same level, the pressure at both these points is the same, and it is the atmospheric pressure.
∴ PA = PC
Between the points C and D, the surface is plane.
∴ PC = PD = PA
∴ PB > PD.
But the points B and D are at the same horizontal level. Thus, in order to maintain the same pressure, the liquid in the capillary rushes out of the capillary. Because of this, there is a drop in the level of liquid inside the capillary, as shown.
Capillary rise:
Consider a capillary tube dipped in a liquid which wets the surface. The shape of the liquid meniscus in the capillary is concave.
∴ PA > PB
As points A and C are at the same level, the pressure at both these points is the same, and it is the atmospheric pressure.
∴ PA = PC
Between the points C and D, the surface is plane.
∴ PC = PD = PA
∴ PD > PB.
But the points B and D are at the same horizontal level. Thus, in order to maintain the same pressure, the liquid in the capillary rushes into the capillary. Because of this, there is a rise in the level of liquid outside the capillary, as shown.
APPEARS IN
RELATED QUESTIONS
The energy of the free surface of a liquid drop is 5π times the surface tension of the liquid. Find the diameter of the drop in C.G.S. system.
Angle of contact for the pair of pure water with clean glass is _______.
In which of the following substances, surface tension increases with increase in temperature ?
- Copper
- Molten copper
- Iron
- Molten iron
Explain why Water with detergent dissolved in it should have small angles of contact.
What is the excess pressure inside a bubble of soap solution of radius 5.00 mm, given that the surface tension of soap solution at the temperature (20 °C) is 2.50 × 10–2 N m–1? If an air bubble of the same dimension were formed at depth of 40.0 cm inside a container containing the soap solution (of relative density 1.20), what would be the pressure inside the bubble? (1 atmospheric pressure is 1.01 × 105 Pa).
Two narrow bores of diameters 3.0 mm and 6.0 mm are joined together to form a U-tube open at both ends. If the U-tube contains water, what is the difference in its levels in the two limbs of the tube? Surface tension of water at the temperature of the experiment is 7.3 × 10–2 N m–1. Take the angle of contact to be zero and density of water to be 1.0 × 103 kg m–3 (g = 9.8 m s–2)
The total energy of free surface of a liquid drop is 2π times the surface tension of the liquid. What is the diameter of the drop? (Assume all terms in SI unit).
A body weighs 4.0 kg-wt on the surface of the Earth. What will be its weight on the surface of a plant whose mass is `1/8` th of the mass of the Earth and radius half `(1/2)` of that of the Earth?
A big drop of radius R is formed from 1000 droplets of water. The radius of a droplet will be _______
A) 10 R
B) R/10
C) R/100
D) R/1000
State any two characteristics of the angle of contact
The free surface of a liquid resting in an inertial frame is horizontal. Does the normal to the free surface pass through the centre of the earth? Think separately if the liquid is (a) at the equator (b) at a pole (c) somewhere else.
It is said that a liquid rises or is depressed in capillary due to the surface tension. If a liquid neither rises nor depresses in a capillary, can we conclude that the surface tension of the liquid is zero?
When the size of a soap bubble is increased by pushing more air in it, the surface area increases. Does it mean that the average separation between the surface molecules is increased?
Frictional force between solids operates even when they do not move with respect to each other. Do we have viscous force acting between two layers even if there is no relative motion?
A heavy mass is attached to a thin wire and is whirled in a vertical circle. The wire is most likely to break
If more air is pushed in a soap bubble, the pressure in it
If two soap bubbles of different radii are connected by a tube,
The excess pressure inside a soap bubble is twice the excess pressure inside a second soap bubble. The volume of the first bubble is n times the volume of the second where n is
Water rises in a vertical capillary tube up to a length of 10 cm. If the tube is inclined at 45°, the length of water risen in the tube will be
Viscosity is a property of
The properties of a surface are different from those of the bulk liquid because the surface molecules
(a) are smaller than other molecules
(b) acquire charge due to collision from air molecules
(c) find different type of molecules in their range of influence
(d) feel a net force in one direction.
The contact angle between a solid and a liquid is a property of
(a) the material of the solid
(b) the material of the liquid
(c) the shape of the solid
(d) the mass of the solid
A capillary tube of radius 0.50 mm is dipped vertically in a pot of water. Find the difference between the pressure of the water in the tube 5.0 cm below the surface and the atmospheric pressure. Surface tension of water = 0.075 N m−1.
How much amount of work is done in forming a soap bubble of radius r?
Derive an expression for capillary rise for a liquid having a concave meniscus.
The surface tension of a liquid at critical temperature is ______
Define surface tension.
What will be the shape of the liquid meniscus for the obtuse angle of contact?
Obtain an expression for the capillary rise or fall using the forces method.
Describe an experiment to prove that friction depends on the nature of a surface.
A certain number of spherical drops of a liquid of radius R coalesce to form a single drop of radius R and volume V. If T is the surface tension of the liquid, then
Define the surface tension of a liquid.
Mention the S.I unit and dimension of surface tension.
Distinguish between cohesive and adhesive forces.
What are the factors affecting the surface tension of a liquid?
Obtain an expression for the surface tension of a liquid by the capillary rise method.
A capillary of diameter d mm is dipped in water such that the water rises to a height of 30 mm. If the radius of the capillary is made `(2/3)` of its previous value, then compute the height up to which water will rise in the new capillary?
A square frame of each side L is dipped in a soap solution and taken out. The force acting on the film formed is _____.
(T = surface tension of soap solution).
A molecule of water on the surface experiences a net ______.
A water drop of radius R' splits into 'n' smaller drops, each of radius 'r'. The work done in the process is ______.
T = surface tension of water
The upward force of 105 dyne due to surface tension is balanced by the force due to the weight of the water column and 'h' is the height of water in the capillary. The inner circumference of the capillary is ______.
(surface tension of water = 7 × 10-2 N/m)
What is surface tension? Explain the applications of surface tension.
The length of a needle floating on water is 2 cm. The additional force due to surface tension required to pull the needle out of water will be (S.T. of water = 7.0 × 10−2 N/m).
For a surface molecule ______.
- the net force on it is zero.
- there is a net downward force.
- the potential energy is less than that of a molecule inside.
- the potential energy is more than that of a molecule inside.
Two mercury droplets of radii 0.1 cm. and 0.2 cm. collapse into one single drop. What amount of energy is released? The surface tension of mercury T = 435.5 × 10–3 Nm–1.
A liquid flows out drop by drop from a vessel through a vertical tube with an internal diameter of 2 mm, then the total number of drops that flows out during 10 grams of the liquid flow out ______. [Assume that the diameter of the neck of a drop at the moment it breaks away is equal to the internal diameter of tube and surface tension is 0.02 N/m].
A drop of water and a soap bubble have the same radii. Surface tension of soap solution is half of that of water. The ratio of excess pressure inside the drop and bubble is ______.
A coaxial cylinder made of glass is immersed in liquid of surface tension ' S'. Radius of inner and outer surface of cylinder are R1 and R2 respectively. Height till which liquid will rise is (Density of liquid is p):
In a U-tube, the radii of two columns are respectively r1 and r2. When a liquid of density ρ(θ = 0°) is filled in it, a level difference of h is observed on two arms, then the surface tension of the liquid is ______.
Two blocks of masses m and M are connected by means of a metal wire of cross-sectional area A passing over a frictionless fixed pully as shown in the figure. The system is then released. If M = 2m, then the stress produced in the wire is ______.

Work done to blow a bubble of volume V is W. The work done in blowing a bubble of volume 2V will be ______.
A spherical liquid drop of radius R is divided into eight equal droplets. If surface tension is T, then the work done in this process will be ______.
The surface tension of boiling water is ______.
