Cohesion, Surface Tension,

and Adhesion
 Content Objectives
• SWBAT describe how hydrogen bonding allows
water molecules to maintain strong cohesion,
adhesion, and surface tension.
 Van der Waals Forces
• The sum of all attractive forces between molecules.
 Hydrogen Bonding
• Attraction between hydrogen atoms who are
bonded to strongly electronegative atoms like
O, F, or Cl and another polar molecule.
• Water is attracted to itself due to hydrogen
bonding between H---O
 Surface Tension
• Refers to how strong molecules hold onto each
other against gravity or other forces.
• Water has strong surface tension that allows it
to form almost completely spherical droplets.
Surface Tension
Water Striders Take Advantage of
Surface Tension
 Why Do Ice Cubes Float?
• Hydrogen bonding keeps the water molecules well
spaced as they form their crystalline structure.
• Thus, the density of the solid is actually less than
the liquid. This is rare among compounds.
 Hydrogen Bonding of DNA and Proteins
• Hydrogen bonding is what keeps a DNA
molecule in its double helix.
• It is also what allows proteins to bend into the
critical shapes.
• If you heat a protein, it will break the
hydrogen bonds and it will fall apart.
• If that happens you die…
 Cohesion
• Attraction between like molecules
• Mercury is more attracted to itself than the glass,
so it does not “wet” it.
• Mercury will roll over surfaces without attaching
to them.
 Adhesion
• Attraction between dissimilar molecules
• Water has a tendency to stick to many other
substances, like these spider webs or pine
needles.
 Adhesion
• These attractions can be due hydrogen
bonding, polar attraction, or other dipole-
dipole interactions.
• Geckos use adhesion to climb upside down
and on almost any surface.
 Meniscus
• Water is attracted to glass and has a tendency
to climb up its surface due to adhesion.
• Glass is polar, because it is primarily SiO2
 Wetting Vs. Non-wetting
• Gallium does not have much cohesion. It is much
more attracted to other surfaces than itself.
• Here it has wet the surface of the glass and it is
hard to get off again.
 Wetting vs. Non-wetting
• A is a liquid with little adhesion to the surface
(thus non-wetting)
• B is a liquid with moderate adhesion
• C is a liquid with significant adhesion and thus
is wetting the surface.
 Capillary Action
• Is the ability of a liquid to climb against gravity
on the surface of something else.
• The higher the level of adhesion between the
two and cohesion within the liquid, the more
rapidly this can occur.
Capillary Action of Water in Concrete
 Capillaries
• Capillaries are tiny blood
vessels that deliver blood to
individual cells.
• At their tiny size, the pressure
of the heart is not enough to
force the blood through them.
• The blood moves through the
blood vessels through
capillary action.
 Using Surface Tension to Walk on Water

• Aquatic insects have surface hairs that do

not allow water to wet it. Then, they use the
surface tension of water to crawl across it.
 Definitions
• Cohesion allows the water droplets to stay together.
• Surface Tension makes them bead up.
• Adhesion keeps them attached to the leaves instead
of running off.
 What to Do?
• What do you do if you get butter or vegetable
oil on your hands?
 Soap
• Water won’t get grease off your hands, so you
use soap.
 What IS soap anyways?
• Lard (animal fat)
• Vegetable oil
• Caustic NaOH or KOH pellets or lye water
 Soap
• How does soap do it?
• Soap molecules contains a polar head and a
non-polar tail.
• The oils dissolve into the non-polar tail and
then the polar head is attracted to and pulled
away by the running water.
 What About Tough Grease?
• Soap often is not strong enough to get off motor
or bike grease
• Use vegetable oil first!
• Non-polar grease will dissolve into the oil.
• Then, soap will remove the vegetable oil.
 Surfactant
• A substance that disrupts and lowers the surface
tension of a liquid.
• Detergents contain a polar and non-polar end. When
added to water, they attach to water, but do not allow
waters to attach to each other, thus lowering the
surface tension.
 How Bubbles Form
• Bubbles form when surfactants surround
water molecules.
 Content Objectives
• SWBAT describe how hydrogen bonding allows
water molecules to maintain strong cohesion,
adhesion, and surface tension.