Lecture 2

Surface Tension
By

Prof. Maysa Ahmed

Matter around us exists in three phases (excluding plasma)

Solid
rigid body

Liquid
Fluid
Incompressible

Gas
Fluid
compressible

The differences in the physical properties between them are explained in terms of the forces that
bind the molecules
 Solid

 The molecules are rigidly bound

 a solid therefore has a definite shape and

volume
 Liquid

 The molecules constituting a liquid are not

bound together with enough force to maintain
a definite shape,

 the binding is sufficiently strong to maintain a

definite volume.

 A liquid adapts its shape to the vessel in

which it is contained.
 Gas

 the molecules are not bound to each other.

 Gas has neither a definite shape nor a

definite volume

 it completely fills the vessel in which it is

contained
From the above

 Both gases and liquids are free to flow and are called fluids.
 Fluids and solids are governed by the same laws of
mechanics, but because of their ability to flow, fluids exhibit
some phenomena not found in solid matter
What is Fluid mechanics?

 It is a physical science concerned with the behavior of fluid at (liquids, gases,

and plasmas) rest and motion and the forces on them.
 fluid Mechanics can be divided into 3 branches
Properties of Fluids
basis properties associated with fluids which help us to understand them in a better way.
 Viscosity
– It is the ratio of applied shear stress to the obtained shear strain rate in fluids. Viscosity
offers resistance to the movement of fluid layers.
 Pressure
– It is the term used in fluids which is analogues to the term stress used in solids. Both
are the ratio of applied force and area of surface (on which the force is applied)
 Specific gravity
– Specific gravity of fluids is defined as the ratio of density of a particular fluid to the
density of standard fluid (generally water).
Force and Pressure in a Fluid
 When a force is applied to
1-A solid: this force is transmitted to the other parts of the solid with
its direction unchanged.

2- A fluid: Because of a fluid’s ability to flow, it transmits a force

uniformly in all directions.

Therefore, the pressure at any point in a fluid at rest is the

same in all directions.
Pressure
 A fluid in a container exerts a force on all parts of the container
in contact with the fluid.
 Fluid also exerts a force on any object immersed in it.

P -> pressure (Pa)

F
P F -> Force
A -> Area
(N)
(m2)
A
F is always perpendicular to A

The pressure in a fluid increases with depth

because of the weight of the fluid above.

P2 −P1 = ρgh
Pressure units

1 torr
 =1mm Hg
 =13.5mm water
 =1.33×103 dyn/cm2
 =1.32×10−3 atm
 =1.93×10−2 psi
 =1.33×102 Pa (N/m2)
Pascal’s Principle

“Pressure at a point in a static fluid is the same in all directions and

acts perpendicular to any surface in the fluid; Any additional external
pressure is transmitted equally in all directions”
 Pressure in = pressure out

F in F out

Ain Aout
So,

F1
P
A1
A2
F2  PA2  F1
A1
Examples: hydraulic brakes, forklifts, car lifts, etc.
Question

Pressure at the same height is the same! (Pascal’s Law)

 Archimedes’ principle
“Archimedes’ principle states that a body partially
or wholly submerged in a fluid is buoyed upward by
a force that is equal in magnitude to the
weight of the displaced fluid”
 consider the simple case of a cubic shaped
object (height h, cross sectional area A)
floating submerged in a fluid of density ρfluid as in the figure.
 Use the definition of pressure in terms of area & force: The pressure Ptop at the top of the
cube causes a downward force Fdown = PtopA on the upper face.
 The pressure Pbot at the bottom of the cube causes an upward force Fup = PbotA on the lower
face.
 Total force the fluid exerts on the cube: B = (Pbot – Ptop)A (1)
 Use the dependence of pressure on depth: (Pbot – Ptop) = ρfluidgh (2)
 Combining (1) & (2) gives
 B = ρfluidghA = ρfluidgV = Mg.
 Mg is the weight of the FLUID displaced by the object!
• What is Fluid mechanics?

• It is a physical science concerned with the behavior of fluid at (liquids, gases, and plasmas)

rest and motion and the forces on them.

•fluid Mechanics can be divided into 3 branches

FIG 1
 Surface Tension
• Surface tension is a property that allows the surface of a liquid to behave somewhat as a
trampoline does.
• When a person stands on a trampoline, the trampoline stretches downward a bit and, in so
doing, exerts an upward elastic force on the person.
• This upward force balances the person’s weight. The surface of the water behaves in a
similar way.

•SURFACE TENSION

FIG 1

(a) A molecule within the bulk liquid is surrounded on all sides by other molecules.
(b) A molecule in the surface experiences a net attractive force pointing toward the liquid interior.
 Surface Tension
• Part shows a molecule within the bulk liquid, so that it is surrounded on all sides by other
molecules. The surrounding molecules attract the central molecule equally in all directions,
leading to a zero net force.

• In contrast, part b shows a molecule in the surface.

• Since there are no molecules of the liquid above the surface, this molecule experiences a net
attractive force pointing toward the liquid interior. This net attractive force causes the liquid
• surface to contract toward the interior until repulsive collisional forces from the other molecules
halt the contraction at the point when the surface area is a minimum.
• If the liquid is not acted upon by external forces, a liquid sample forms a sphere, which has the
minimum surface area for a given volume.
• Nearly spherical drops of water are a familiar sight, for example, when the external forces are
negligible.
 To understand Surface Tension

• It we can use the apparatus, consists of a C-shaped wire

frame, on which a wire is mounted that can slide with
negligible friction.

• The frame and sliding wire contain a thin film of liquid.

Because surface tension causes the liquid surface to
contract, a force F is needed to move the slider to the right
and extend the surface.

• The surface tension is denoted by the Greek letter gamma

(γ) and is defined as the magnitude F of the force per unit FIG 2
length which it acts as over which it acts:
𝐹
= F \ L
𝛾=
𝐿
• ΔA = L. Δx

ΔW = F .Δx

γ = ΔW\ΔA = F.Δx\ΔA

= F . Δx \ 2L .Δx

γ = F\2L

The surface tension  is the magnitude F of the force exerted parallel to the surface of a liquid
divided by the length L of the line over which the force acts.

• SI Unit of Surface Tension: N/m For the specific case illustrated in Figure 2, there is an upper
surface and a lower surface, as the blow-up drawing indicates.

• Thus, the force F acts along a total length of 2l, where l is the length of the slider.
 Capillary Action

• The surface tension arises because of the intermolecular forces of attraction that
molecules in a liquid exert on one another.

• These forces, which are between like molecules, are called cohesive forces.

• A liquid, however, is often in contact with a solid surface, such as glass.

• Then additional forces of attraction come into play.

• They occur between molecules of the liquid and molecules of the solid surface and,
being between unlike molecules, are called adhesive forces.
 Capillary Action
• In this Consider a tube with a very small diameter, which is called a capillary.

• When a capillary, open at both ends, is inserted into a liquid, the result of the

competition between cohesive and adhesive forces can be observed.

• For instance, Figure 3 shows a glass capillary inserted into water.

• In this case, the adhesive forces are stronger than the cohesive forces, so that the water

molecules are attracted to the glass more strongly than to each other.

• The result is that the water surface curves upward against the glass.

• It is said that the water “wets” the glass.

• The surface tension leads to a force F acting on the circular boundary between the water

and the glass.

• This force is oriented at an angle φ, which is called the contact angle, and is determined

by the competition between the competition between the cohesive and adhesive forces. Fig3 Water rises in a glass capillary due to the
surface tension of the water and the fact that the
• The vertical component of F pulls the water up into the tube to a height h. water wets the glass surface

• At this height the vertical component of F balances the weight of the column of water of

length h
 Capillary Action
• Glass capillary inserted into mercury, a situation in which the adhesive forces
are weaker than the cohesive forces.

• The mercury atoms are attracted to each other more strongly than they are
to the glass.

• As a result, the mercury surface curves downward against the glass and the
mercury does not “wet” the glass.

• Now, in contrast to the situation illustrated in Figure 3, the surface tension

leads to a force F, the vertical component of which pulls the mercury down a
distance h in the tube.

• The behavior of the liquids in both Figures 4 and 5 is called capillary action.
The contact angle , or the angle between the solid surface and a line drawn
tangent to the liquid at the surface , is less than 90° for any substance in
Fig4 Mercury falls in a glass capillary due to the
surface tension of the mercury and the fact that
the mercury does not wet the glass surface

which adhesive forces are stronger than cohesive forces and greater than
90° if cohesive forces predominate.
 Capillary Action

Fig5

For example, if a drop of water is placed on paraffin, the contact angle is approximately 107°
(Figure 5a). If certain chemicals, called wetting agents or detergents, are added to the water, the
contact angle becomes less than 90°, as shown in Figure 6b. The addition of such substances to
water ensures that the water makes intimate contact with a surface and penetrates it. For this
reason, detergents are added to water to wash clothes or dishes.

In Figure 5.
. (a) The contact angle between water and paraffin is about 107°. In this case, the cohesive force
is greater than the adhesive force.
• (b) When a chemical called a wetting agent is added to the water, it wets the paraffin surface,
and  < 90°. In this case, the adhesive force is greater than the cohesive force.
Surface Tension
“Surface tension is a phenomenon in which the surface of a liquid, where the liquid is in contact with
a gas, acts as a thin elastic sheet. This term is typically used only when the liquid surface is in contact
with gas (such as the air). If the surface is between two liquids (such as water and oil), it is called
"interface tension."
 The surface of a liquid contract and behave somewhat like a stretched membrane.
 This contracting tendency results in a surface tension that resists an increase in the free
surface
 That surface tension is force acting tangential to the surface, normal to a line of unit
length on the surface

FT  TL
FT Total force
L length
T surface tension
 Capillary Action

 The surface tension arises because of the intermolecular forces of attraction that molecules
in a liquid exert on one another.
 These forces, which are between like molecules, are called cohesive forces.
 A liquid, however, is often in contact with a solid surface, such as glass.
 Then additional forces of attraction come into play.
 They occur between molecules of the liquid and molecules of the solid surface and, being
between unlike molecules, are called adhesive forces.
 Capillary action
• The surface molecules near the wall are attracted to
the wall. This attractive force is called adhesion.
• These molecules are also subject to the attractive
cohesive force exerted by the liquid
So, FIGURE 3 Angle of contact when (a) liquid wets the wall and (b)

If the adhesive force is greater than the cohesive

liquid does not wet the wall.

force, the liquid wets the container wall, and the liquid
surface near the wall is curved upward.

If the opposite is the case, the liquid surface is

curved downward
Fm= 2πRT

FIGURE 4 (a) Capillary rise. (b) Capillary depression

Fm maximum force
R radius of the column
T surface tension
 If the adhesion is greater than the cohesion, a liquid in a narrow tube will rise to a specific height h
(see Fig. 4.a), which can be calculated from the following considerations. The weight W of the column
of the supported liquid is

W  R hg 2 R is the radius of the column

ρ is the density of the liquid

 The maximum force Fm due to the surface tension along the periphery of the liquid is

Fm maximum force
Fm  2RT R radius of the column
T surface tension

Fm  2RT cos In Y-direction

R 2 h=g 2RT cos

Therefore, the height of the column is
Contraction of Muscles
 An examination of skeletal muscles shows that
they consist of smaller muscle fibers,
which in turn are composed of yet smaller
units called myofibrils.

FIGURE 5 Contraction of muscles.

 Further, examination with an electron microscope reveals that the myofibril is composed of two
types of threads,
1) one made of myosin, which is about 160A˚ (1˚ A˚ 10−8 cm) in diameter.
2) other made of actin, which has a diameter of about 50A.
 Each myosin-actin unit is about 1 mm long.
 The˚ threads are aligned in a regular pattern with spaces between threads so that the threads
can slide past one another, as shown in Fig. 5
 Muscle contraction begins with an electrical nerve impulse
that results in a release of Ca2+ ions into the myosin-actin structure.
 The calcium ions in turn produce conformational changes that result in the sliding of the
threads through each other, shortening the myosin-actin structure.

The collective effect of this process is the contraction of the muscle.

A needle has a length of 3.2 cm. When placed gently on the surface of the
water (γ = 0.073 N/m) in a glass, this needle will float if it is not too heavy.
What is the weight of the heaviest needle that can be used in this
demonstration?.

Equation 1

Solution: As the end view in Figure 3 shows, three forces act on

the needle, its weight W and the two forces F1 and F2 due to the surface
tension of the water.
 The forces F1 and F2 result from the surface tension acting along the
length of the needle on either side.
 According to Equation 1, they have the same magnitude F1 = F2 = γ L,
where γ = 0.073 N/m is the surface tension of water and L is the length
of the needle.
 Each of F1 and F2 is tangent to the indented water surface that is
formed when the needle presses on the surface. The result is that each
acts at an angle θ with respect to the vertical.
 The needle floats in equilibrium.
 Therefore, the net force ΣF acting on the needle is zero. In the vertical
direction this means that the sum of the vertical components of F1, F2,
and W equals zero.