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Related Concept Videos

Rise of Liquid in a Capillary Tube01:18

Rise of Liquid in a Capillary Tube

When very thin cylindrical tubes, called capillaries, are dipped in a liquid, the liquid rises or falls in the tube compared to the surrounding liquid. This phenomenon is called capillary action. Capillary action occurs due to the combination of two opposing forces: the cohesive forces of the liquid, which cause it to stick to itself and form a rounded shape, and the adhesive forces between the liquid and the walls of the container, which cause the liquid to be attracted to the container walls.
Capillarity in Fluid01:19

Capillarity in Fluid

Capillarity describes the movement of liquid in small spaces without external forces acting on it. The capillarity is driven by surface tension and adhesive interactions between the liquid and surrounding solid surfaces. This effect is often seen in narrow tubes, porous materials, and fine particles.
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Van der Waals Interactions

Atoms and molecules interact with each other through intermolecular forces. These electrostatic forces arise from attractive or repulsive interactions between particles with permanent, partial, or temporary charges. The intermolecular forces between neutral atoms and molecules are ion–dipole, dipole–dipole, and dispersion forces, collectively known as van der Waals forces.Polar molecules have a partial positive charge on one end and a partial negative charge on the other end of the molecule,...
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Surface Tension, Capillary Action, and Viscosity

Surface Tension
The various IMFs between identical molecules of a substance are examples of cohesive forces. The molecules within a liquid are surrounded by other molecules and are attracted equally in all directions by the cohesive forces within the liquid. However, the molecules on the surface of a liquid are attracted only by about one-half as many molecules. Because of the unbalanced molecular attractions on the surface molecules, liquids contract to form a shape that minimizes the number...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 16, 2026

Fabrication and Visualization of Capillary Bridges in Slit Pore Geometry
11:20

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Published on: January 9, 2014

Capillary forces during liquid nanodispensing.

Laure Fabié1, Hugo Durou, Thierry Ondarçuhu

  • 1Nanosciences group, CEMES-CNRS, Université de Toulouse, 29 rue Jeanne Marvig, 31055 Toulouse cedex 4, France.

Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids
|January 27, 2010
PubMed
Summary

This study details liquid nanodispensing using atomic force microscopy (AFM). A novel numerical method explains capillary forces and nanochannel effects in attoliter droplet transfer.

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Area of Science:

  • Surface science and nanotechnology
  • Atomic force microscopy applications
  • Fluid dynamics at the nanoscale

Background:

  • Accurate liquid nanodispensing is crucial for microfabrication and biological applications.
  • Understanding capillary forces is key to controlling droplet formation and transfer.
  • Atomic force microscopy (AFM) offers high-resolution force measurements.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To comprehensively study capillary forces during liquid nanodispensing of attoliter droplets using AFM.
  • To investigate the influence of nanochannel geometry on droplet transfer.
  • To develop and validate a numerical method for analyzing these forces.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized atomic force microscopy (AFM) to measure capillary forces.
  • Employed a tip with an integrated nanochannel connected to a reservoir droplet.
  • Developed a numerical simulation to model the observed force curves.

Main Results:

  • Observed diverse force curves during the attoliter droplet deposition process.
  • Demonstrated the significant influence of nanochannel diameter on dispensing behavior.
  • Validated the numerical method against experimental observations.

Conclusions:

  • The study enhances understanding of liquid transfer mechanisms at the nanoscale.
  • The developed numerical method accurately models capillary forces in nanodispensing.
  • This approach offers real-time monitoring and has broad applications in microfluidics and complex geometries.