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Related Concept Videos

Contact Angle01:13

Contact Angle

When a solid is dipped inside a liquid, the liquid surface becomes curved near the contact. For some solid–liquid interfaces, the liquid is pulled up along the solid, while for others, the liquid surface is convex or depressed near the solid surface. This phenomenon can be explained using the concept of cohesive and adhesive forces.
The adhesive force is the molecular force between molecules of different materials, that is, between the molecules of the solid and the liquid. The cohesive force...
Surface Tension, Capillary Action, and Viscosity02:57

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...
Design Example: Resistive Touchscreen01:14

Design Example: Resistive Touchscreen

A device engineer plays a crucial role in designing user interfaces for mobile devices. One such interface is the resistive touchscreen, which fundamentally consists of two metallic layers: a flexible upper layer and a rigid lower layer, separated by a narrow gap. The high resistance between these two layers is a key characteristic of this design.
When a user touches the screen, the two layers make contact at a specific point known as the touchpoint. This contact reduces the resistance between...
Boundary Conditions for Current Density01:25

Boundary Conditions for Current Density

Current density becomes discontinuous across an interface of materials with different electrical conductivities. The normal component of the current density is continuous across the boundary.
Boundary Conditions: Lossless Lines01:21

Boundary Conditions: Lossless Lines

Consider a single-phase, two-wire, lossless transmission line terminated by an impedance at the receiving end and a source with Thevenin voltage and impedance at the sending end. The line, with length, has a surge impedance and wave velocity determined by the line's inductance and capacitance.
At the receiving end, the boundary condition states that the voltage equals the product of the receiving-end impedance and current. This relationship is expressed as a function of the incident and...
Contact-dependent Signaling01:19

Contact-dependent Signaling

Contact-dependent signaling, as the name suggests, requires that communicating cells be in direct contact with each other. This is achieved either through receptor-ligand interactions or by specialized cytoplasmic channels that allow the flow of small molecules between cells. In animal cells, channels called gap junctions facilitate contact-dependent signaling in certain tissues, whereas, plasmodesmata perform a similar function in plants.
Gap Junctions
In animal cells, gap junctions are formed...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 3, 2026

Wicking Tests for Unidirectional Fabrics: Measurements of Capillary Parameters to Evaluate Capillary Pressure in Liquid Composite Molding Processes
07:06

Wicking Tests for Unidirectional Fabrics: Measurements of Capillary Parameters to Evaluate Capillary Pressure in Liquid Composite Molding Processes

Published on: January 27, 2017

Using the fact that wetting is contact line dependent.

Dalton F Cheng1, Thomas J McCarthy

  • 1Polymer Science and Engineering Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States.

Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids
|March 9, 2011
PubMed
Summary

Contact line pinning controls water behavior on surfaces. This study shows that the linear shape of features, not their area, determines pinned water volume and film shape.

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Area of Science:

  • Surface science
  • Wetting phenomena
  • Fluid dynamics

Background:

  • Traditional wetting models (Wenzel, Cassie) focus on contact area.
  • These models are insufficient for explaining phenomena dominated by contact line behavior.
  • Contact line pinning is crucial for controlling liquid behavior on surfaces.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate wetting phenomena using a contact line perspective.
  • To demonstrate the utility of contact line pinning in controlling liquid volume and shape.
  • To highlight the limitations of contact area-based models in specific experimental scenarios.

Main Methods:

  • Fabrication of lithographed hydrophilic features of various shapes (arcs, wedges) on low contact angle hysteresis surfaces.
  • Experiments with sessile water drops pinned by these features.
  • Creation of thin hydrophilic contact lines on water-repellent surfaces to support and shape water films (puddles).

Main Results:

  • Pinned water volume is dependent on the linear dimension of the feature interacting with the receding contact line, not the feature's area.
  • Hydrophilic contact lines effectively control the 2D and 3D shapes of water films, enabling the creation of elongated, curved, and patterned puddles.
  • Contact line pinning offers precise control over liquid confinement and morphology.

Conclusions:

  • The contact line perspective is essential for understanding and predicting wetting behaviors in scenarios involving contact line pinning.
  • Feature geometry at the contact line, rather than total feature area, dictates liquid pinning.
  • Contact line manipulation provides a powerful tool for controlling liquid shapes and volumes on patterned surfaces.