Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

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.
Surface tension is crucial to capillarity. It results from cohesive forces between liquid molecules at the liquid-air boundary, forming a skin that resists external forces. When the capillary tube...
Capillary Exchange01:28

Capillary Exchange

The cardiovascular system's chief role is to disseminate gases, nutrients, waste, and other substances to the body's cells. Small molecules like gases, lipids, and lipid-soluble substances directly diffuse through capillary wall endothelial cell membranes. Glucose, amino acids, and ions, including sodium, potassium, calcium, and chloride, use transporters for facilitated diffusion via membrane-specific channels. Glucose, ions, and bigger molecules may also pass through intercellular clefts.
Capillary Beds01:20

Capillary Beds

Capillary beds are networks of tiny blood vessels that play a crucial role in the circulatory system. These beds are where the exchange of gases, nutrients, and waste products occurs between the blood and surrounding tissues. Each capillary bed consists of numerous capillaries, which are the smallest blood vessels in the body, typically only one cell-thick. This thinness allows for the efficient diffusion of substances.
Capillaries connect arterioles, small branches of arteries, to venules,...
Free Jet01:14

Free Jet

Free jets describe the flow of liquid exiting a reservoir through an opening into the atmosphere without resistance. The velocity (v) of the liquid jet is derived using Bernoulli's principle and expressed as:
Adhesion01:14

Adhesion

Adhesion occurs when one type of molecule is attracted to a different molecule. Water exhibits adhesive properties in the presence of polar surfaces, such as glass or cellulose in plants. For instance, when water is poured into a glass, the positively charged hydrogen molecules of water are more attracted to the negatively charged oxygen molecules in the silica than to the oxygen in neighboring water molecules.
Capillary action is a result of water’s adhesive tendencies. When a narrow glass...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Mechanical reinforcement of graphene via wrinkling.

NPJ 2D materials and applications·2026
Same author

Magneto-optical microscopy platform for quantitative imaging of hemozoin in blood for malaria diagnosis.

Biomedical optics express·2026
Same author

Microfluidic platform for automatic quantification of malaria parasite invasion under physiological flow conditions.

Lab on a chip·2026
Same author

Quantitative analysis of mucociliary activity by computational high-speed video reflection microscopy.

European biophysics journal : EBJ·2026
Same author

Expression of nano-engineered RNA organelles in bacteria.

Nature communications·2026
Same author

Invasion preferences suggest a possible role for Plasmodium falciparum parasites in the expansion of Duffy negativity in West and Central Africa.

Molecular biology and evolution·2026
Same journal

Interplay of Anisotropy, Dzyaloshinskii Moriya Interaction and Symmetry breaking Fields in a 2D XY Ferromagnet.

Journal of physics. Condensed matter : an Institute of Physics journal·2026
Same journal

Single-molecule electron transport near a charge-trapping orbital-level alignment.

Journal of physics. Condensed matter : an Institute of Physics journal·2026
Same journal

Δ<sub>T</sub>Noise as a Robust Diagnostic for Chiral, Helical and Trivial Edge Modes.

Journal of physics. Condensed matter : an Institute of Physics journal·2026
Same journal

A Quantum Framework for Negative Magnetoresistance in Multi-Weyl Semimetals.

Journal of physics. Condensed matter : an Institute of Physics journal·2026
Same journal

Magnetic anisotropy and electronic structure in surface-supported single rare-earth atom magnets: a topical review.

Journal of physics. Condensed matter : an Institute of Physics journal·2026
Same journal

Modeling thermal transport in AlN/GaN superlattices and heterostructures with machine-learned force fields.

Journal of physics. Condensed matter : an Institute of Physics journal·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 21, 2026

Microtensiometer for Confocal Microscopy Visualization of Dynamic Interfaces
08:05

Microtensiometer for Confocal Microscopy Visualization of Dynamic Interfaces

Published on: September 9, 2022

The capillary interaction between two vertical cylinders.

Himantha Cooray1, Pietro Cicuta, Dominic Vella

  • 1Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, J J Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK.

Journal of Physics. Condensed Matter : an Institute of Physics Journal
|June 29, 2012
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Floating particles create surface deformations, leading to attractive forces and aggregation. This study introduces a numerical method to accurately calculate these forces, resolving discrepancies in previous research for complex liquid surface interactions.

More Related Videos

Single Plane Illumination Module and Micro-capillary Approach for a Wide-field Microscope
08:53

Single Plane Illumination Module and Micro-capillary Approach for a Wide-field Microscope

Published on: August 15, 2014

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

Fabrication and Visualization of Capillary Bridges in Slit Pore Geometry

Published on: January 9, 2014

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 21, 2026

Microtensiometer for Confocal Microscopy Visualization of Dynamic Interfaces
08:05

Microtensiometer for Confocal Microscopy Visualization of Dynamic Interfaces

Published on: September 9, 2022

Single Plane Illumination Module and Micro-capillary Approach for a Wide-field Microscope
08:53

Single Plane Illumination Module and Micro-capillary Approach for a Wide-field Microscope

Published on: August 15, 2014

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

Fabrication and Visualization of Capillary Bridges in Slit Pore Geometry

Published on: January 9, 2014

Area of Science:

  • Fluid dynamics
  • Surface science
  • Computational physics

Background:

  • Floating particles deform liquid surfaces, minimizing energy leads to attractive inter-particle forces and aggregation.
  • Understanding these forces is crucial for predicting particle behavior in surface phenomena.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To present a novel numerical method for calculating the three-dimensional meniscus around vertical circular cylinders.
  • To determine inter-particle force-separation curves for various cylinder radii and contact angles.
  • To compare numerical results with asymptotic and experimental data, particularly for nonlinear liquid surface behavior.

Main Methods:

  • Numerical solution of the fully nonlinear Laplace-Young equation.
  • Utilizing a mesh-free finite difference method for accurate simulations.
  • Calculating inter-particle force-separation curves for pairs of vertical cylinders.

Main Results:

  • Good agreement between numerical, asymptotic, and experimental results for large separations and small meniscus slopes.
  • Numerical simulations resolve discrepancies between asymptotic and experimental results for steeper menisci and smaller separations.
  • The nonlinearity of the Laplace-Young equation is identified as the cause of previously observed discrepancies.

Conclusions:

  • The developed numerical method accurately models inter-particle forces arising from liquid surface deformations.
  • The study highlights the importance of considering the nonlinearity of the Laplace-Young equation for accurate predictions in complex scenarios.
  • This work provides a more reliable approach for understanding particle aggregation at liquid surfaces.