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Capillarity in Fluid

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...

Rise of Liquid in a Capillary Tube

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.

Phase Transitions: Vaporization and Condensation

Phase Transitions: Vaporization and Condensation

The physical form of a substance changes on changing its temperature. For example, raising the temperature of a liquid causes the liquid to vaporize (convert into vapor). The process is called vaporization—a surface phenomenon. Vaporization occurs when the thermal motion of the molecules overcome the intermolecular forces, and the molecules (at the surface) escape into the gaseous state. When a liquid vaporizes in a closed container, gas molecules cannot escape. As these gas phase molecules...

Surface Tension, Capillary Action, and Viscosity

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...

Capillary Beds

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,...

Adhesion

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...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 8, 2026

Confocal Imaging of Confined Quiescent and Flowing Colloid-polymer Mixtures

Confocal Imaging of Confined Quiescent and Flowing Colloid-polymer Mixtures

Published on: May 20, 2014

Capillary condensation in one-dimensional irregular confinement.

Thomas P Handford¹, Francisco J Pérez-Reche, Sergei N Taraskin

¹Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1EW, United Kingdom. tph32@cam.ac.uk

Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics

|August 16, 2013

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

A new lattice-gas model describes fluid condensation in pores. Disorder controls sorption and can cause hysteresis, crucial for analyzing porous materials.

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Area of Science:

Physics
Physical Chemistry
Materials Science

Background:

Understanding fluid condensation in porous materials is vital for applications like gas storage and separation.
Capillary condensation phenomena in confined geometries are complex and depend on pore structure and fluid properties.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop a theoretical framework for describing fluid condensation in heterogeneous, finite-sized, one-dimensional pores.
To investigate the role of disorder and pore geometry on adsorption-desorption behavior.

Main Methods:

Development of a lattice-gas model incorporating pore heterogeneity.
Mapping the model to the random-field Ising model for exact zero-temperature solutions.
Utilizing finite-temperature Metropolis dynamics simulations to validate analytical results.

Main Results:

The model reproduces experimentally observed fluid adsorption dependence on external pressure.
Disorder is shown to be a key factor governing sorption in long pores, leading to H2-type hysteresis.
Simulations confirm analytical predictions at low temperatures.

Conclusions:

The developed lattice-gas model provides a fundamental basis for capillary condensation theory.
This framework enables reliable structural analysis of porous media using adsorption-desorption isotherms.
The findings are essential for advancing the understanding and application of porous materials.