Physics

Surface tension
Intermolecular forces
The force between two molecules of a substance is called intermolecular force. This
intermolecular force is basically electric in nature. When the distance between two molecules
is greater, the distribution of charges is such that the mean distance between opposite charges
in the molecule is slightly less than the distance between their like charges. So a force of
attraction exists. When the intermolecular distance is less, there is overlapping of the electron
clouds of the molecules resulting in a strong repulsive force. The intermolecular forces are of
two types. They are (i) cohesive force and (ii) adhesive force
Cohesive force
Cohesive force is the force of attraction between the molecules of the same substance. This
cohesive force is very strong in solids, weak in liquids and extremely weak in gases.

Adhesive force
Adhesive force is the force of attraction between the moelcules of two different substances.
For example due to the adhesive force, ink sticks to paper while writing. Fevicol, gum etc
exhibit strong adhesive property. Water wets glass because the cohesive force between water
molecules is less than the adhesive force between water and glass molecules. Whereas,
mercury does not wet glass because the cohesive force between mercury molecules is greater
than the adhesive force between mercury and glass molecules
Surface tension of a liquid
Surface tension is the property of the free surface of a liquid at rest to behave like a stretched
membrane in order to acquire minimum surface area. Imagine a line AB in the free surface of
a liquid at rest (Fig. 5.20). The force of surface tension is measured as the force acting per
unit length on either side of this imaginary line AB. The force is perpendicular to the line and
tangential to the liquid surface. If F is the force acting on the length l of the line AB, then
surface tension is given by

Surface tension is defined as the force per unit length acting

perpendicular on an imaginary line drawn on the liquid surface,
tending to pull the surface apart along the line

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Physics

Experiments to demonstrate surface tension

(i)

When a painting brush is dipped into water, its hair gets separated from each
other. When the brush is taken out of water, it is observed that its hair will cling
together. This is because the free surface of water films tries to contract due to
surface tension

(ii)

When a sewing needle is gently placed on water surface, it floats. The water surface
below the needle gets depressed slightly. The force of surface tension acts tangentially. The
vertical component of the force of surface tension balances the weight of the needle.
Molecular theory of surface tension
Consider two molecules P and Q as shown in Fig. 5.22. Taking them as centers and molecular
range as radius, a sphere of influence is drawn around them. The molecule P is attracted in all
directions equally by neighboring molecules. Therefore net force
acting on P is zero. The molecule Q is on the free surface of the
liquid. It experiences a net downward force because the number of
molecules in the lower half of the sphere is more and the upper
half is completely outside the surface of the liquid. Therefore all
the molecules lying on the surface of a liquid experience only a
net downward force.
If a molecule from the interior is to be brought to the surface of
the liquid, work must be done against this downward force. This
work done on the molecule is stored as potential energy. For
equilibrium, a system must possess minimum potential energy. So,
the free surface will have minimum potential energy. The free
surface of a liquid tends to assume minimum surface area by
contracting and remains in a state of tension like a stretched elastic
membrane

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Physics

Surface energy and surface tension

The potential energy per unit area of the surface film is called surface energy. Consider a
metal frame ABCD in which AB is movable. The frame is dipped in a soap solution. A film is
formed which pulls AB inwards due to surface tension. If T is the surface tension of the film
and l is the length

Angle of contact
When the free surface of a liquid comes in contact with a solid, it becomes curved at the point
of contact. The angle between the tangent to the liquid surface at the point of contact of the
liquid with the solid and the solid surface inside the liquid is called angle of contact

In Fig. 5.24, QR is the tangent drawn at the

point of contact Q. The angle PQR is called
the angle of contact. When a liquid has
concave meniscus, the angle of contact is
acute. When it has a convex meniscus,
the angle of contact is obtuse. The angle of
contact depends on the nature of liquid and
solid in contact. For water and glass, lies
between 8o and 18o. For pure water and
clean glass, it is very small and hence it is
taken as zero. The angle of contact of
mercury with glass is 138o

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Physics

Pressure difference across a liquid surface

If the free surface of a liquid is plane, then the surface tension acts horizontally (Fig. 5.25a).
It has no component perpendicular to the horizontal surface. As a result, there is no pressure
difference between the liquid side and the vapour side. If the surface of the liquid is concave
(Fig. 5.25b), then the resultant

Force R due to surface tension on a molecule on the surface act vertically upwards. To
balance this, an excess of pressure acting downward on the concave side is necessary. On the
other hand if the surface is convex (Fig. 5.25c), the resultant R acts downward and there must
be an excess of pressure on the concave side acting in the upward direction. Thus, there is
always an excess of pressure on the concave side of a curved liquid surface over the pressure
on its convex side due to surface tension.
Excess pressure inside a liquid drop
Consider a liquid drop of radius r. The molecules on the surface of the drop experience a
resultant force acting inwards due to surface tension. Therefore, the pressure inside the drop
must be greater than the pressure outside it. The excess of pressure P inside the drop provides
a force acting outwards perpendicular to the surface, to balance the resultant force due to
surface tension. Imagine the drop to be divided into two equal halves. Considering the
equilibrium of the upper hemisphere of the drop, the upward force on the plane face ABCD
due to excess pressure P is P r 2
If T is the surface tension of the liquid, the force due to surface tension acting downward
along the circumference of the circle ABCD is T 2r.

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Physics

Excess pressure inside a soap bubble

A soap bubble has two liquid surfaces in contact with air, one inside the bubble and the other
outside the bubble. Therefore the force due to surface tension

Capillarity
The property of surface tension gives rise to an interesting phenomenon called capillarity.
When a capillary tube is dipped in water, the water rises up in the tube. The level of water in
the tube is above the free surface of water in the beaker (capillary rise). When a capillary tube
is dipped in mercury, mercury also rises in the tube. But the level of mercury is depressed
below the free surface of mercury in the beaker
The rise of a liquid in a capillary tube is
known as capillarity. The height h in Fig.
5.27 indicates the capillary rise (for water)
or capillary fall (for mercury).

Illustrations of capillarity
(i)
A blotting paper absorbs ink by capillary action. The pores in the blotting paper
act as capillaries.
(ii)

The oil in a lamp rises up the wick through the narrow spaces between the threads
of the wick.

(iii)

A sponge retains water due to capillary action.

(iv)

Walls get damped in rainy season due to absorption of water by bricks.

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Physics

Surface tension by capillary rise method

Let us consider a capillary tube of uniform bore dipped vertically in a beaker containing
water. Due to surface tension, water rises to a height h in the capillary tube as shown in Fig.
5.28. The surface tension T of the water acts inwards and the reaction of the tube R outwards.
R is equal to T in magnitude but opposite in direction. This reaction R can be resolved into
two rectangular components.
(i) Horizontal component R sin acting radially outwards
(ii) Vertical component R cos acting upwards.

The horizontal component acting all along the circumference

of the tube cancel each other whereas the vertical component
balances the weight of water column in the tube

This upward force is responsible for the capillary rise. As the water column is in equilibrium,
this force acting upwards is equal to weight of the water column acting downwards.
Now, volume of water in the tube is assumed to be made up of (i)
a cylindrical water column of height h and (ii) water in the
meniscus above the plane CD

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Physics

Factors affecting surface tension

Impurities present in a liquid appreciably affect surface tension. A highly soluble substance
like salt increases the surface tension whereas sparingly soluble substances like soap
decreases the surface tension. The surface tension decreases with rise in temperature. The
temperature at which the surface tension of a liquid becomes zero is called critical
temperature of the liquid
Applications of surface tension
(i) During stormy weather, oil is poured into the sea around the ship. As the surface tension of
oil is less than that of water, it spreads on water surface. Due to the decrease in surface
tension, the velocity of the waves decreases. This reduces the wrath of the waves on the
ship.
2 Lubricating oils spread easily to all parts because of their low surface tension.
3) Dirty clothes cannot be washed with water unless some detergent is added to water. When
detergent is added to water, one end of the hairpin shaped molecules of the detergent get
attracted to water and the other end, to molecules of the dirt. Thus the dirt is suspended
surrounded by detergent molecules and this can be easily removed. This detergent action is
due to the reduction of surface tension of water when soap or detergent is added to water.
(iv) Cotton dresses are preferred in summer because cotton dresses have fine pores which act
as capillaries for the sweat
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Physics

Experimental determination of surface tension of water by

capillary rise method
A clean capillary tube of uniform bore is fixed vertically with its lower end dipping into water
taken in a beaker. A needle N is also fixed with the capillary tube as shown in the Fig.
5.30. The tube is raised or lowered until the tip of the needle just touches the water surface. A
travelling microscope M is focussed on the meniscus of the

water in the capillary tube. The reading R1

corresponding to the lower meniscus is noted.
The microscope is lowered and focused on the tip
of the needle and the corresponding reading is
taken as R2. The difference between R1 and R2
gives the capillary rise h. The radius of the
capillary tube is determined using the travelling
microscope. If is the density of water then the
surface tension of water
is given by T = hr g/2
where g is the acceleration due to gravity

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