surface tension




We’ve seen that if an object is less dense than water, it will float partially submerged.
But a paper clip can rest atop a water surface even though its density is
several times that of water. This is an example of surface tension: The surface
of the liquid behaves like a membrane under tension . Surface tension
arises because the molecules of the liquid exert attractive forces on each
other. There is zero net force on a molecule within the interior of the liquid, but a
surface molecule is drawn into the interior (Fig. 12.15). Thus the liquid tends to
minimize its surface area, just as a stretched membrane does.

surface tension

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Surface tension explains why raindrops are spherical (not teardrop-shaped):
A sphere has a smaller surface area for its volume than any other shape. It also
explains why hot, soapy water is used for washing. To wash clothing thoroughly,
water must be forced through the tiny spaces between the fibers (Fig. 12.16). This
requires increasing the surface area of the water, which is difficult to achieve
because of surface tension. The job is made easier by increasing the temperature
of the water and adding soap, both of which decrease the surface tension.

surface tension

 

 

 

 

 

 

Surface tension is important for a millimeter-sized water drop, which has a
relatively large surface area for its volume. (A sphere of radius r has surface area 4pr2  and volume (4p/3)r3
. The ratio of surface area to volume is 3/r, which
increases with decreasing radius.) But for large quantities of liquid, the ratio of
surface area to volume is relatively small, and surface tension is negligible compared
to pressure forces. For the remainder of this chapter, we’ll consider only
fluids in bulk and ignore the effects of surface tension.

 



Frequently Asked Questions

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Ans: A body immersed in water seems to weigh less than when it is in air. When the body is less dense than the fluid, it floats. The human body usually floats in water, and a helium-filled balloon floats in air. These are examples of buoyancy, a phenomenon described by Archimedes’s principle: view more..
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Ans: The simplest pressure gauge is the open-tube manometer . The U-shaped tube contains a liquid of density r, often mercury or water. The left end of the tube is connected to the container where the pressure p is to be measured, and the right end is open to the atmosphere view more..
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Ans: If the pressure inside a car tire is equal to atmospheric pressure, the tire is flat. The pressure has to be greater than atmospheric to support the car, so the significant quantity is the difference between the inside and outside pressures. When we say that the pressure in a car tire is “32 pounds” (actually 32 lb>in.2 , equal to 220 kPa or 2.2 * 105 Pa), we mean that it is greater than atmospheric pressure (14.7 lb>in.2 or 1.01 * 105 Pa) by this amount. view more..
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Ans: We’ve seen that if an object is less dense than water, it will float partially submerged. But a paper clip can rest atop a water surface even though its density is several times that of water. This is an example of surface tension: view more..
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Ans: We are now ready to consider motion of a fluid. Fluid flow can be extremely complex, as shown by the currents in river rapids or the swirling flames of a campfire. But we can represent some situations by relatively simple idealized models. An ideal fluid is a fluid that is incompressible (that is, its density cannot change) and has no internal friction (called viscosity). view more..
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Ans: The mass of a moving fluid doesn’t change as it flows. This leads to an important relationship called the continuity equation view more..
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Ans: According to the continuity equation, the speed of fluid flow can vary along the paths of the fluid. The pressure can also vary; it depends on height as in the static situation (see Section 12.2), and it also depends on the speed of flow. We can derive an important relationship called Bernoulli’s equation, view more..
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Ans: To derive Bernoulli’s equation, we apply the work–energy theorem to the fluid in a section of a flow tube. In Fig. 12.23 we consider the element of fluid that at some initial time lies between the two cross sections a and c. The speeds at the lower and upper ends are v1 and v2. In a small time interval dt, the fluid that is initially at a moves to b, a distance ds1 = v1 dt, and the fluid that is initially at c moves to d, a distance ds2 = v2 dt. The cross-sectional areas at the two ends are A1 and A2, as shown. The fluid is incompressible; hence by the continuity equation, Eq. (12.10), the volume of fluid dV passing any cross section during time dt is the same. That is, dV = A1 ds1 = A2 ds2. view more..
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Ans: HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES TO DEAL WITH view more..
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Ans: Viscosity is internal friction in a fluid. Viscous forces oppose the motion of one portion of a fluid relative to another. Viscosity is the reason it takes effort to paddle a canoe through calm water, but it is also the reason the paddle works. Viscous effects are important in the flow of fluids in pipes, the flow of blood, the lubrication of engine parts, and many other situations view more..
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Ans: When the speed of a flowing fluid exceeds a certain critical value, the flow is no longer laminar. Instead, the flow pattern becomes extremely irregular and complex, and it changes continuously with time; there is no steady-state pattern. This irregular, chaotic flow is called turbulence view more..
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Ans: SUMMARY OF EVERY TOPIC OF FLUID MECHANISM. view more..
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Ans: Some of the earliest investigations in physical science started with questions that people asked about the night sky. Why doesn’t the moon fall to earth? Why do the planets move across the sky? Why doesn’t the earth fly off into space rather than remaining in orbit around the sun? The study of gravitation provides the answers to these and many related questions view more..
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Ans: Every particle of matter in the universe attracts every other particle with a force that is directly proportional to the product of the masses of the particles and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. view more..
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Ans: We have stated the law of gravitation in terms of the interaction between two particles. It turns out that the gravitational interaction of any two bodies having spherically symmetric mass distributions view more..
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Ans: To determine the value of the gravitational constant G, we have to measure the gravitational force between two bodies of known masses m1 and m2 at a known distance r. The force is extremely small for bodies that are small enough to be brought into the laboratory, but it can be measured with an instrument called a torsion balance, which Sir Henry Cavendish used in 1798 to determine G. view more..
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Ans: HERE ARE SOME SOLVED EXAMPLES TO CLEAR YOUR CONCEPTS view more..
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Ans: gravitational forces are negligible between ordinary household-sized objects but very substantial between objects that are the size of stars. Indeed, gravitation is the most important force on the scale of planets, stars, and galaxies view more..




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