CAPILLARY RISE

Aim: To determine the capillary rise in two glass capillary tubes having bores 0.4 mm, 0.8mm and 1.6
mm
Theory:Capillary action the ability of a liquid to flow in narrow spaces without the assistance of, and in opposition
to, external forces like gravity. It occurs because of intermolecular forcesbetween the liquid and
surrounding solid surfaces. If the diameter of the tube is sufficiently small, then the combination of surface
tension (which is caused by cohesion within the liquid) and adhesive forces between the liquid and
container act to lift the liquid. In short, the capillary action is due to the pressure of cohesion and adhesion
which cause the liquid to work against gravity.
The height h of a liquid column is given by:[17]

where is the liquid-air surface tension, is the contact angle, is the density of liquid, g is
local acceleration due to gravity and r is radius of tube .

Apparatus: Header tank filled with water, glass capillary tubes of different bores.
Procedure:
1. Fill the header tank with water and place the glass capillary tubes in it.
2. Measure the level of water rise in the capillary tube using the depth gauge.
Observations:
Bore Size (mm)
0.4
0.8
1.6
Graphs:..
Result:
Capillary for tube with bore 0.4mm = 28mm
Capillary for tube with bore 0.8mm = 17mm
Capillary for tube with bore 1.6mm = 10mm

Capillary rise (mm)

28
17
10

Inference:
Capillary rise is observed in the three glass capillary tubes and it is observed that the rise of liquid in the
capillary tube of smaller bore is the highest. The relation between height of the column and the bore
size is verified