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

Surface Tension of Fluid01:22

Surface Tension of Fluid

Surface tension is a fundamental property of fluids, occurring at the boundary between a liquid and a gas or between two immiscible liquids. This phenomenon arises from the cohesive forces between molecules at the fluid's surface, creating an effect similar to a stretched elastic membrane. Inside each fluid, molecules are equally attracted in all directions by neighboring molecules, but surface molecules experience a net inward force, resulting in surface tension.
Surface tension varies with...
Surface Tension01:24

Surface Tension

Surface tension is defined as the force per unit length (γ) acting along the surface of a liquid. It arises due to strong intermolecular forces of attraction. A molecule located inside the bulk of the liquid is surrounded by other molecules and experiences equal forces in all directions. However, a molecule at the surface experiences unbalanced forces because there are more neighboring molecules below than above. This creates a net inward force that pulls surface molecules toward the interior,...
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...
Surface Tension and Surface Energy01:16

Surface Tension and Surface Energy

When a paint brush is immersed in water, the bristles wave freely inside the water. When it is taken out, the bristles stick together. The reason behind this effect is surface tension.
Consider a beaker filled with liquid. The bulk molecules in the liquid experience equal attractive forces on all sides with the surrounding molecules. However, the surface molecules experience a net attractive force downward due to the bulk molecules. The surface of the liquid behaves like a stretched membrane,...
Excess Pressure Inside a Drop and a Bubble01:13

Excess Pressure Inside a Drop and a Bubble

The shape of a small drop of liquid can be considered spherical, neglecting the effect of gravity. This drop can further be considered as two equal hemispherical drops put together due to surface tension. The forces acting on the spherical drop are due to the pressure of the liquid inside the drop, the pressure due to air outside the drop, and the force due to the surface tension acting on the two hemispherical drops.
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...

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by
Same author

Overcoming van der Waals Bundling: Molecular Wedges Enable Sonication-Free Dispersion of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes.

ACS nano·2026
Same author

A Layer-Based Model for Frictional Sliding of Pillar Arrays.

Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids·2026
Same author

Viscoelastic properties of tumor spheroids revealed by a microfluidic compression device and a modified power law model.

Soft matter·2026
Same author

A microfluidic rheometer for tumor mechanics and invasion studies.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2025
Same author

A microfluidic rheometer for tumor mechanics and invasion studies.

Lab on a chip·2025
Same author

Droplet outbursts from onion cutting.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2025

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 10, 2026

Accurate Determination of the Equilibrium Surface Tension Values with Area Perturbation Tests
07:57

Accurate Determination of the Equilibrium Surface Tension Values with Area Perturbation Tests

Published on: August 30, 2019

Solid surface tension measured by a liquid drop under a solid film.

Nichole Nadermann1, Chung-Yuen Hui, Anand Jagota

  • 1Department of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering Program, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 18015, USA.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|June 12, 2013
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

A liquid drop causes a thin elastic film to bulge, allowing researchers to measure solid surface tension. This method overcomes limitations of traditional contact angle measurements for flexible materials.

Keywords:
membranesoft materialssurface stresswetting

More Related Videos

A Method to Manipulate Surface Tension of a Liquid Metal via Surface Oxidation and Reduction
09:20

A Method to Manipulate Surface Tension of a Liquid Metal via Surface Oxidation and Reduction

Published on: January 26, 2016

Measurement of Aggregate Cohesion by Tissue Surface Tensiometry
12:49

Measurement of Aggregate Cohesion by Tissue Surface Tensiometry

Published on: April 8, 2011

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 10, 2026

Accurate Determination of the Equilibrium Surface Tension Values with Area Perturbation Tests
07:57

Accurate Determination of the Equilibrium Surface Tension Values with Area Perturbation Tests

Published on: August 30, 2019

A Method to Manipulate Surface Tension of a Liquid Metal via Surface Oxidation and Reduction
09:20

A Method to Manipulate Surface Tension of a Liquid Metal via Surface Oxidation and Reduction

Published on: January 26, 2016

Measurement of Aggregate Cohesion by Tissue Surface Tensiometry
12:49

Measurement of Aggregate Cohesion by Tissue Surface Tensiometry

Published on: April 8, 2011

Area of Science:

  • Materials Science
  • Physics
  • Surface Chemistry

Background:

  • Traditional methods like Young's equation for contact angles are underdetermined for flexible solids.
  • Measuring solid-fluid surface tension is crucial for understanding material interactions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop a novel method for determining solid-fluid surface tension using thin elastic films.
  • To investigate the mechanics of liquid-thin film interactions and interface tensions.

Main Methods:

  • Placing a liquid drop (hundreds of microns) under a thin elastic film (∼10 μm thick).
  • Analyzing the film's bulge deformation (tens of microns) using principles of interface tension equilibrium (Neumann's triangle).
  • Extracting solid-fluid surface tension from residual film tension by extrapolating to vanishing film thickness.

Main Results:

  • The bulge shape is governed by a balance of tensions from the liquid-vapor interface, solid film, and solid-fluid interface.
  • Solid film tension comprises elastic stretch and a constant residual component.
  • The residual component directly yields the solid-fluid surface tension when liquid-vapor surface tension is known.

Conclusions:

  • Compliant thin-film structures offer a viable platform for measuring solid surface tensions.
  • This technique provides a more complete determination of interface tensions compared to traditional methods.
  • The findings have implications for understanding adhesion, wetting, and interfacial phenomena in flexible materials.