Statics of liquids – Stevin’s law

From the Bernoulli’s theorem at rest, v = 0, we obtain:

When the liquid is at rest (static case) ΔP  Δh (proportion to the height

gradient)
PRINCIPLE of COMMUNICATING VESSELS

The height of the free interface will be the same for all vessels. The principle
still holds true even adding further liquid as long as it is always the same liquidi.
For different liquids we could use that pressures at equal heights are equal to
calculate the height in each single vessel, by knowing the density of the different
liquids. (The pressures to equalize are the hydrostatic and altimetric ones).

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 Viscosity and hydraulic impedence
REAL LIQUIDS: VISCOSITY

In order for a real liquid to flow through a horizontal tube with v = const. it is
required to apply a pressure gradient at the ends to win friction forces.

TUBE RESISTANCE, R:

Δp = pressure gradient (due to a pump device)

Q = tube flow rate

Regimes for a real liquid motion:

Laminar: motion takes place per layers (laminas) that do not mix, the
velocity keeping constant with time in any given point in space.
Swirling or Turbolent: liquid parts mix up everywhere and vortices are
formed

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 Viscosiy
For laminar regime the FRICTION FORCE between layers that are in touch is:

η = viscosity; it is a coefficient depending on the

material and the temperature
A = area of layers that are in touch
Viscosity in common
v = relative speed between layers
fluids
d = average distance between two “adjacent” layers

This force is oppostite in direction to the relative

velocity of the adjacent layers, i.e. opposite to the
relative motion, as for all friction forces. The larger
the relative velocity of the reciprocal lamina sliding
the more intense the friction force.
[viscosity]= [F] [L]-2[t]= 1 poise = 10-1 Pa . s

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 Poiseuille’s law

In laminar regime we find that for per a cylindrical tube having radius and
length r and l, respectively

R = hydraulic impedence
l = tube length
r = tube radius

The 8/π factor depends strictly on the tube shape. This together with

yields the POISEUILLE’S LAW:

Q = flow rate
2
Q is proportional to Δp. Furthermore Q = const = πr vm , vm = average velocity.
Moreover, we find for the pressure forces:

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 Boundary conditions:
Additionally:
v ( r = rmax) = 0
v ( r = 0) = Vmax

v (r = rmax) = 0: the speed vanishes for the lamina in touch with the border of
the container (rmax radius of the cylindrical tube).
v (r = 0) = Vmax: speed right in the center, on the cylinder axis, is maximal.

-> v (r) is found solving a 1st order

differential equation.
When we represent the velocity profile
vs r, we shall obtain a parabola, given More viscous fluid
the r2 dependence of the velocity
vector length.
For the parabolic profile we find that

18/11/2022 Less viscous fluid 85

 Critical speed and Reynolds number
By increasing the fluid speed, rising the Δp value, we get a v value, beyond which
the Poiseuille’s law is not valid anymore.

CRITICAL VELOCITY, vc :
critical

R = Reynolds number (no dimensions, it is a pure number), depending on the

tube geometrical shape.
η = viscosity
d = fluid density
r = tube radius

Typically, R 1000 - 1200 for uniform and straight tubes.

For v > vc turbolent or swirling motion

In corresponcende of loops, corners, bottlenecks and irregularities of the tube R
diminishes and it is easier and more frequent to reach the turbolent regime. In the
turbolent regime the hydraulic impedence of the tube will increase.

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 Turbolent regime

HYDRAULIC IMPEDENCE in TURBOLENT REGIME:

In laminar regime the impedence, R, is independent of Q, and it will be ascribed

to a given tube with well established geometrical parameters. Contrarywise, in
the turbolent regime the impedence, R, is proportional to Q, thus increasing with
increasing Q.

For the Reynolds number we obtain the expression:

η = viscosity
d = fluid density Reynolds = 2rdv/
r = tube radius
vm= fluid average velocity

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 Blood viscosity
Into the matrix-solvent which is the blood
Red
plasma, based on water, we find:
Globul • Red Globules (erythrocytes): 5 106/
e mm3
Morphology looking • White Cells (leukocytes), 5:8 103/ mm3
like a biconcave disk
• Platelets, 2,5 : 5 105/ mm3.
Leukocytes are a few, platelets are small,
The erythrocyte shape increases
then the viscosity is mainly determined by
The efficiency of gas exchange erythrocytes.
(for the oxygen) between
cytoplasm and blood plasma η plasma 1,5 η acqua
The speed is not too high and for red globules
r >> 100 pm, then the blood obeys Poiseuille’s
law, but in the capillaries. Viscosity is very much
affected by erythrocytes concentration. In
addition, η depends on T

PECULIAR FEATURES and INHOMOGENEITY of BLOOD VISCOSITY

When blood is at rest, it resembles a plastic and structured mass due to red globules aggregation. When blood
flows, this internal structure is broken and the big molecules orient into the stream. Then red globules pile up on-
axis, leaving a nearly free plasma layer nearby the vessel walls (on-axis accumulation of erythrocytes).
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 Vessels hydraulic impedence

PARALLEL VESSELS IMPEDENCE

Analogously to the electric case for parallel vessels we have:

In general:

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 Cardiac work

For vessels connected in series:

In general:

CARDIAC WORK
Rough scheme of the cardiac work

V = liquid volume (blood) that is injected into the cylinder

(aorta input port)
The pressure p exactly balances the external one to win, i.e.
the aortic. From Bernoulli’s at the aperture of the aortic valve
region:

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Please note also that the kinetic term of the work can be seen as the kinetic energy
of the blood volume pumped into the aorta. In fact, ½ dVv2= ½ dmbloodv2

In normal conditions (at rest) the kinetic term of the work can be
neglected constituting only 1-2% of the total, since L ≈ P∙V. But during
an intense sport activity the kinetic term of the cardiac work can reach
about 25% of the total work

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 Cardiac pressure measurement: the
sphygmomanometer
NON-INVASIVE TECHNIQUE VALVE
Some air is pumped into the PUMP
elastic belt until the inflated
baloon into the belt will
block the blood flow into
arteries. The readout Manometric
Liquid 
pressure by the manometer
in time is typically as below:
We read the maximum sistolic pressure by
slowly evacuating the ballon into the belt. Then
we read the minimum diastolic pressure, i.e. the
last noice that we can hear until the artery is fully
open and the blood flows in laminar regime
(which is silent, no noise..).
The arm is about as high as the heart, then we
measure the cardiac pressure (dissipation into
Time
large arteries is negligible).
Limit of detection of the method:
1:5 mmHg
18/11/2022 NOTE: the operator needs to be fast. The circulatory system 92
tends to adapt to the artery block → the measure can be biased.
 Surface tension
The liquid makes minimal its free surface at the interface with air
the air because of coesion forces. Because of this: liquid

→ a drop is a sphere
→ a work is needed to stretch a liquid lamina on a little structure.

SURFACE TENSION (force

per unit length):

Non-negligible thickness of
Force between two liquids- liquid
Interface tension (Water and oil)
Lamina of liquid with a negligible
thickness
The work carried on by F is:

variation of the free surface

displacement of the application point of F

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 Some example of Surface Tension

• Water striders are able to walk on top of water due to a

combination of several factors.
• Water striders use the high surface tension of water
and long, hydrophobic legs to help them stay above
water.
• Water striders use this surface tension to their advantage through their highly
adapted legs and distributed weight.
• The legs of a water strider are long and slender, allowing the weight of the water
strider body to be distributed over a large surface area.
• The legs are strong, but have flexibility that allows the water striders to keep their
weight evenly distributed and flow with the water movement.
 Some example of Surface Tension

• Hay’s test, also known as Hay’s sulfur flower test, is a chemical test used for detecting the presence of bile
salts in the urine. Bile salts are salts of four different types of bile acids: cholic, deoxycholic,
chenodeoxycholic, and lithocholic. T
• These bile acids interact with glycine or taurine in order to form complex salts. Bile salts pass through the
bile into the small intestine and serve as surfactants to emulsify fat. They reduce the surface tension on fat
droplets so that the fat can be broken down by enzymes.
• Bile salts are processed in the terminal ileum and enter the bloodstream from where the liver takes them and
re-excretes them in the bile. Bile salts, along with bilirubin, can be detected in urine in cases of obstructive
jaundice.
• Hay’s test is performed by taking a fresh urine sample at room temperature and
sprinkling sulfur powder on it. If bile salts are present, sulfur particles sink to the
bottom because of the lowering of surface tension by bile salts. If sulfur particles
remain on the surface of urine, bile salts are absent, and the test gives a negative result
for jaundice.
 Some example of Surface Tension
Configuration of two different cell
populations with varying adhesion
forces, the dark sphere represents
cells with high selfadhesion
whereas the white sphere
represents cells with lower self-
adhesion. (A) no cross-adhesion,
(B) relatively weak crossadhesion,
(C) intermediate cross-adhesion
and (D preferential cross-adhesion
between the cells and (E)
differential adhesion and
morphological changes during
somatogenesis.
• Human biological fluids contain numerous low-
and high-molecular weight surfactants, proteins
and lipids that adsorb at fluid interface.
• The composition of these fluids varies with age,
sex, health condition and therapeutic treatment.
• The processes which take place at these
interfaces could reflect the age and sex of a
person.
• The low content of enzyme, lipoprotein and
carbohydrate components in female serum is
responsible for the high equilibrium surface
tension of biological fluids when compared to
that of the male.
• A person’s age reflects the dynamic surface
tension of his biologic fluids.
• As the age increases, the surface tension of
serum increases while the surface tension of
urine decreases. That is, due to the
compositional changes in biological fluids during
pregnancy, surface tension of serum decreases
Factors affecting the Surface Tension
• A practical example of this effect can be observed while enjoying the
soup.
• A hot soup tastes much more delicious than a cold one because the
surface tension of a hot soup is lower than that of the cold soup; and
therefore, it spreads over a larger area of the tongue.
• This in terms means that covering more taste receptors somehow
makes the brain interpret the soup as tastier.

• The addition of sparingly soluble impurities to a liquid can decrease its

surface tension.
• This happens because adhesive force between the liquid molecule and
the impurity molecule is less than cohesive force among liquid
molecules, and because of a weaker intermolecular force of attraction
among the molecules of solvent and solute, surface tension
decreases.
• For instance, adding phenol to the water can lower down its surface
tension, and provides better cleaning than pure water.
  (dyne/cm) depends on the liquid and on the interface medium
Mercury – Air 476
Water – Air 72,5
Benzene – Air 28,9
Water – Olive oil 20,6

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 Adhesion forces – Contact angle
Some liquids like interacting with the walls (we say that they wet the walls, for
example water on glass), while other liquids do not like interacting with the walls
(they do not wet the walls, for example mercury on glass). These interactions are
electrostatic and depend on the nature of both the liquid and the wall.

For liquids that wet the

Poor
wall  < 90°, for liquids
wettability Large
that do not wet the wall
wettability
 > 90°.
It is an equilibrium
between coesion into
CONTACT ANGLES in ° liquid and liquid-wall
water – glass 25 adhesion forces.
Hg – clean glass 148
water – paraffin 107

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 Contact angle
Contact angle refers to a method of calculating surface free energy by evaluating the interface of
a liquid and a solid surface.

A contact angle (also referred to as a wetting angle) is formed when a drop of liquid is placed on
a material surface and the drop forms a dome shape on the surface. The angle formed between
the surface and the line tangent to the edge of the drop of the water is called the contact angle.

• Determining the contact angle will allow you to know the

quality of a material surface prior to an adhesion process
such as coating, sealing, soldering, adhesive bonding,
printing or painting.
• The contact angle can also be used as a surface quality
check after cleaning processes like solvent cleaning, parts
washing, ultrasonic cleaning, and more.
• This angle provides quantitative data about the
cleanliness of a surface at a molecular level.
• Surface wettability is influenced by three forces; the surface tension of a liquid, the surface tension of a
solid (i.e. surface free energy) and the interfacial tension between the solid and the liquid.
• Surface free energy is the property of the solid similarly as surface tension is a property of a liquid.
• Wettability is affected by both surface chemistry and surface roughness.
• Wettability of the material is evaluated through contact angle measurements.
• At the cellular level, biological responses, such as orientation and migration of cells is influenced by
surface topography.
• There is also evidences that suitable surface roughness, at the nano- and micrometer level, can lead to
successful osseointegration of titanium implants, which is important for dental and other bone-connecting
implants.
• Due to this, porous titanium coatings have also gained a lot of interest, but increased surface roughness
also enhances bacterial adhesion increasing the infection risks
• The term of adhesion between two objects
appears confusing or ambiguous, because
generally it is employed to describe: first, the
formation of the interface between a pair of
materials, i.e., the establishment of
interfacial bonds through forces at the
interface which cause materials to attract
one another and second, the breaking stress
or energy required to break the assembly

• How to access adhesion forces at a

local scale? In recent years, atomic
force microscopy (AFM) has become a
powerful tool, sensitive enough, to
detect small surface forces and to study
adhesion at the nanoscale.
• Adhesion forces and surface
mechanical properties of surfaces can
be achieved with such a nanometer
probe even if quantitative results need
important calibration procedures.
• Cells exert, sense, and respond to the different physical forces through diverse
mechanisms and translating them into biochemical signals.
• The adhesion of cells is crucial in various developmental functions, such as to
maintain tissue morphogenesis and homeostasis and activate critical signaling
pathways regulating survival, migration, gene expression, and differentiation.
• More importantly, any mutations of adhesion receptors can lead to developmental
disorders and diseases.
• Thus, it is essential to understand the regulation of cell adhesion during
development and its contribution to various conditions with the help of quantitative
methods
 Capillarity and Jurin’s law
When the tube has a very small radius.

θ = contact angle

Liquid that wets the wall Liquid that does not wet the wall
(level elevation into the capillary) (level lowering into the capillary)

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At equilibrium the vertical component of the adhesion force due to the surface tension
compensates the weight of the liquid elevation into the capillary.

cos

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 Law of Laplace
Due to the action of surface tension a drop tends to the smallest possible surface.
As a consequence the internal pressure will be larger than the external one. Let us
now, just in this slide, indicate the surface tension by .

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Law of Laplace for bubbles and vessels

P=T/r1+T/r2

P=2T/r
 Gaseous embolism
In a small vessel having a small radius a gas bubble can impede the blood
flow. This can even lead to the blood flow block into the vessel (embolism).
This phenomen is explained by the surface tension and Laplace’s.
We have 2 menisci having different curvature radii, r1 and r2, respectively. If
the left external pressure, p1, equalizes the external right pressure, p2, then
r1=r2 by symmetry and so the two contact angles.

p1=p2, namely
p=0, 1=2
In these equilibrium conditions the bubble
Air bubble is at rest.
blood

If, instead, the bubble moves from left to

right, then the right meniscus decreases its
radius of curvature (curvature increases and
the meniscus becomes more acute) and
therefore also θ2 decreases. Then we
have1>2. 109
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 The forces on the bubble are due to the pressures, the hydrostatic pressure p1 and p2,
and the two additional contribution to pressures due to the surface tension p1 and p2.
Then we can write for the two menisci:
𝐹1
𝑃1 =
𝜋𝑟12

F1 is the force on the 1 meniscus due to  We only have to consider the
component along the vessel axis
 cos 𝜃1 ⋅ 2 𝜋 𝑟11 2  cos 𝜃1
𝑃1 = =
𝜋𝑟12 𝑟1

The pressure on the 1 meniscus is:

2  cos 𝜃1
𝑃1′ = 𝑃1 + 𝑃1 = 𝑃1 +
𝑟1

P1 e P1 sono add up and both tend to flatten it.

Analogously on the right for the 2 meniscus we have:

2  cos 𝜃2
𝑃2′ = 𝑃2 + 𝑃2 = 𝑃2 +
𝑟2
The pressure difference between the two menisci will be:

cos 𝜃2 cos 𝜃1
- 𝑃2′ = ( 𝑃1 − 𝑃2 ) − 2 
Δ𝑃′ = 𝑃1′ +
𝑟2
−
𝑟1

Then let us consider that r1 ≈ r2 (but θ1 ≠ θ2 significantly), since 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃 = 𝑅/𝑟 where:

R= vessel radius
r = meniscus curvature radius

Then:

2
Δ𝑃 ′ ≈ Δ𝑃 − ( cos 𝜃2 − cos 𝜃1 ) = Δ𝑃 − Δ𝑃
𝑟
2
Δ𝑃 = ( cos 𝜃2 − cos 𝜃1 ) > 0
𝑟

As a consequence: 𝛥𝑃′ < 𝛥𝑃

In the presence of a bubble the effective ΔP’ that moves the blood into vessels diminishes due to the
Δ𝑃 which is caused by the surface tension. The blood flow can then be slowed down or even stopped by the
inlet of air into the vessel, particularly for small vessels (r is in the denominator).
 Motion of a body in a viscous liquid
The friction force due to viscosity, that is experienced by a body moving into a
viscous liquid, is opposite in direction to the relative velocity.
FRICTION FORCE DUE TO VISCOSITY:
f = friction force coefficient
For a spherical particle having radius r we have:
STOCKES LAW

The motion equation is:

Archimedes force

Z = motion axis (vertical)

At equilibrium (acceleration must vanish) then we can work out the

sedimention velocity
 Sedimentation velocity

SEDIMENTATION VELOCITY, vs:

vs depends on the characteristic of

particles in suspensio, namely on
their sizes and density. By means of
sedimentation we can then separate
particles in suspension or in solution. The MOBILITY µ is:
For very slow particles, that can be
very light we may use centrifugation.
We can recast the above equilibrium condition

To obtain in terms of V (particle volume):

For a sphere (VES)

 Erythrocytes sedimentation velocity
The measurement of vs for erythrocytes into blood (VES) is a useful diagnostics for
several pathologies. For a red globule:

r = 3,5 m
d = 1,0995 g/cm3
d’ (plasma) = 1,0265 g/cm3
(blood) = 0,01 poise

We express every quantity in the cgs system to obtain:

vs = 1,95 10-4 cm/s = 7 mm/h

This provides an estimate for vs (in case of spheres, i.e. assuming the red globule
as a sphere ).

Normally vs < 7 mm/h in a normal adult. When vs > 10-12 mm/h this can mean an
aggregation of erythrocytes happened or a plasma alteration took place because of
a toxic state or an infection.
 Centrifugation
It is a concept similar to sedimentation in practice, but in a sense it makes the
sedimentation faster and different species filtration process as well. On a particle
we have the centrifugal force acting along the horizontal direction, given by:
 Sedimentation velocity in a centrifuge
For f we have the EINSTEIN – STOKES RELATION:

𝑅𝑇 𝐾𝑇
𝑓= =
𝑁0 𝐷 𝐷

N0 = Avogadro’s number
K = R/ N0 = Boltzmann constant
Then
𝜔2 𝑟0 𝑉 ( 𝑑 − 𝑑 ′ )𝑁0 𝐷
𝑣𝑠 =
𝑅𝑇
2
D = diffusion coefficient in cm / s
S depends on the particle
properties and on the liquid
SEDIMENTATION COEFFICIENT: where the particles is
suspended and it is
It is independent of the centrifuge machine parameters, ω e r0 è: measured in sec. or in
Svedberg (1S = 10-13 s).
𝑣𝑠 𝑉 ( 𝑑 − 𝑑′ )
𝑆= 2 =
𝜔 𝑟0 𝑓

SEDIMENTATION COEFFICIENT (20°)

Myoglobin 2,0 S
Bacillus tubercolosis 3,3 S
Albumin (human serum) 4,6 S
β1 globulin (human) 74 S
Influence virus 700 S