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1. INTRODUCTION

2. EXPERIMENT

3. FORCES

4. DIMENSION

5. EXAMPLE

6. CALCULATION

7. BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Surface tension is the amount of energy required to
increase the surface of the liquid by unit area. In other
words, it is also the property of the liquid surface that
resists force. Intuitively, it keeps a barrier between
foreign materials and liquid, this is the force that holds
the liquid molecules bound together.

For example, if we add soap to the water, its surface

tension decreases, thereby enabling the liquid with
soap to easily mix with dirt on hand and thus clean it. It
is also the property of the liquid surface that it resists
force.

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What you need:
• A plate or bowl
• Water
• Dish Soap
• Ground Black Pepper

Take your plate or bowl, (I like to use a white one

to give good contrast with the black pepper) and
pour on a pool of water approximately 1cm deep
or more.

Sprinkle over a dusting of ground black pepper all

over the pool of water. You should find the pepper
sits on the surface of the water. This is because
water has a high surface tension, meaning the
water molecules have a strong attraction to each
other and they like to stick together. Water has a

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 higher surface tension then most liquids, this is the
reason you're able to slightly overfill a glass with
water, and why some insects are able to sit on the
surface of pond water.

As the pepper is so light, it sits on the surface of

the water rather the sinking to the bottom. The pepper
is also hydrophobic which means water is not attracted
to it, and as such the pepper does not dissolve into the
water, it just remains resting on the surface.

Try dipping your finger tip into the water. You should
see it has no real effect on the pepper. You may find
some of the pepper sticks to your finger, but nothing
else really happens.
Next take a bottle of dish soap and wipe a bit on the tip
of a finger.
Then dip that finger into the center of the water. You
should find the pepper immediately scatters and darts
away from your finger, towards the edge of the water.

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By adding soap to the water, we break down the surface
tension of the water. This is one of the reasons why soap
makes a good cleaner. When soap is added, the surface
tension is reduced, and the water wants to spread out flat
(water normally bulges up slightly, like when you overfill a
glass of water, or if you have a single drop of water sitting
proud on a table top). As it spreads out it flattens on the dish
and carries any pepper that's floating on the surface with it,
away from the source of the soap and to the edge of the
water. You may also find that now the surface tension of the
water is lower some pepper grains sink to the bottom of the
water.

When cleaning dirty dishes, detergents help break down the

grease because it acts as an emulsifier (this means it allows
the oil and water to mix), so the oily leftovers on the plate
can be rinsed off easier. As explained above and in our
demonstration, soap also lowers the water surface tension,
this means rather then the water molecules sticking together
tightly because of their strong attraction to one another, the
water is now able to mix with the grease better, and thus help
to clean off the grime.
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The force of attraction between two different molecules
is known as adhesive force. For instance, consider the
attraction between water and air molecules. The
cohesive force is the attraction between two molecules
that are comparable. For instance, consider the
attraction between water molecules.

The attraction between molecules of the same kind is

known as a cohesive force. For example, the force of
cohesion between water molecules keeps the
substance’s molecules bonded together.

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Dimension of Surface Tension

As we know, surface tension is given by the

formula,
Surface tension = F/L

We know that F = ma, substituting the value in the

equation, we get
=ma/L

Equating the fundamental quantities into the

equation, we get
=MLT-2L-1

Solving further, we get

=MT-2

Hence, the dimensional formula of surface

tension is MT-2.

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Examples of Surface Tension
Water striders, which are small insects, can walk
on water as their weight is considerably less to
penetrate the water surface. Like this, there are
various examples of surface tension which are
found in nature. Some cases are provided below:

• Insects walking on water

• Floating a needle on the surface of the water.
• Rainproof tent materials where the surface
tension of water will bridge the pores in the
tent material
• Clinical test for jaundice
• Surface tension disinfectants (disinfectants
are solutions of low surface tension).
• Cleaning of clothes by soaps and detergents
which lowers the surface tension of the water
• Washing with cold water
• Round bubbles where the surface tension of
water provides the wall tension for the
formation of water bubbles.
• This phenomenon is also responsible for the
shape of liquid droplets.

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How to Calculate Surface
Tension?
Here is an example for calculating surface
tension by using the formula.

Compute the surface tension of a given

liquid whose dragging force is 7 N and the
length in which the force acts is 2 m?

Solution:
Given,

• F=7N
• L=2m
According to the formula,
T = F/L
⇒ T = 7/2
⇒ T = 3.5 N/m

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For successfully completing my
project file, I have taken help from the
following websites:

www.google.com
www.byjus.com
www.wikipedia.com
jpg
lab manual

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