Fluid Mechanics
17
surface and the wall)
is
e,
the meniscus will be approximated
by
part
of
the surface
of
a sphere; from the geometry shown in the
enlargement on the right-hand side
of
Fig the radius
of
the sphere
is
seen to be r =
a/
cos
e.
Since the surface is now concave on the
air side, the reverse
of
equation occurs, and
P2
= PI - 2a/r, so that
P2
is
below atmospheric pressure Pl.
Now
follow the path
1-2-3-4,
and observe that
P4
=
P3
because points 3 and 4 are
at
the same
elevation in the same liquid. Thus, the pressure
at
point 4 is:
20-
P4
=
PI
--+pgh.
r
However,P4 = PI since both
of
these are at atmospheric pressure. Hence,
the surface tension is given by the relation:
=
..!..pghr
=
pgha.
cr
2
2cos9
In many
cases-for
complete wetting
of
the
surface-O
is essentially zero
and cos
e =
1.
However, for liquids such as mercury in glass, there may be a
complete non-wetting
of
the surface, in which case e =
1(,
so that cos e = -
1;
the result
is
that the liquid level in the capillary is then depressed below that
in the surrounding pool.
• In the drop-weight method, a liquid droplet is allowed to form very
slowly at the tip
of
a capillary tube
of
outer diameter D. The droplet
will eventually grow to a size where its weight
just
overcomes the
surface-tension force
1(Da holding it up. At this stage, it will detach
from the tube, and its weight
w = Mg can be determined by catching
it
in
a small pan and weighing it.
By
equating the two forces, the
surface tension is then calculated from:
w
cr
=-
reD
• In the ring tensiometer, a thin wire ring, suspended from the arm
of
a sensitive balance, is dipped into the liquid and gently raised, so
that it brings a thin liquid film up with it. The force
F needed to
support the film is measured
by the balance. The downward force exerted on a unit length
of
the ring
by one side
of
the film is the surface tension; since there are two sides to the
film, the total force
is
2Pa, where P is the circumference
of
the ring. The
surface tension
is
therefore determined as:
F
cr
=
2P'
In common
with
most
experimental
techniques,
all three methods
described above require slight modifications to the results expressed in
equations because
of
imperfections in the simple theories.