UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHEASTERN PHILIPPINES

Iñigo St., Bo. Obrero, Davao City

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
Civil Engineering Department

CE 320
Fluid Mechanics

LABORATORY REPORT
EXPERIMENT No. 1
Surface Tension

PREPARED BY SUBMITTED TO
RIVERA, PRINCESS MAE C. ENGR. JEF V. DE LEON
Group Name Instructor
N/A
EXPERIMENT PERFORMED REPORT SUBMITTED
August 27, 2018 AUGUST 29, 2018

OBJECTIVE(S)

 To identify the effect of liquid detergent on the surface tension of water.

 To understand the reason behind the change in the surface tension of water.

INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES

 Students will be able to identify the effect of liquid detergent on the surface tension of
water.
 Students will be able to understand the reason behind the change in surface tension in
some fluids.

DISCUSSION

SURFACE TENSION: The tension of the surface film of a liquid caused by the attraction of the
particles in the surface layer by the bulk of the liquid, which tends to minimize surface area.

PROCEDURES

1. Place tap water to a clear glass and the same amount of liquid detergent and water
solution to another glass.
2. Place a five – peso coin on a flat surface.

3. Use the plain water dropper to see how many drops of water you can fit on the coin. Make
sure that the dropper does not come in contact with the water on the coin. Record the
number of drops. Complete two trials.

4. Use another dropper to see how many drops of detergent water solution you can fit on
the same coin. Make sure that the dropper does not come in contact with the water on
the coin. Record the number of drops. Complete two trials.
DATA AND RESULTS

Number of Drops of Plain Water and Soapy Water on a Coin

TRIAL 1 TRIAL 2 AVERAGE
PLAIN WATER 45 46 45.5

DETERGENT AND 26 24 25
WATER SOLUTION

OBSERVATION

The experiment showed that as liquid detergent is added to water, the number of
drops that the coin is able to hold decreases.

CONCLUSION

Soap molecules squeeze their way between the surface water molecules. This separates
the water molecules from each other. Since the surface tension forces become smaller as the
distance between water molecules increases, the intervening soap molecules decrease the
surface tension of water.

RECOMMENDATIONS

To obtain further knowledge of surface tension, students must experiment on other

variables that affects the surface tension of liquids. Comparing other types of liquids is also
advisable.