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Related Concept Videos

Capillarity in Fluid01:19

Capillarity in Fluid

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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...
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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.
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Capillaries and Their Types01:20

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Capillaries, a crucial constituent of the circulatory system, are diminutive vessels with a diameter between 5–10 micrometers, accommodating perfusion to the tissues through the phenomenon known as microcirculation. Through their permeable walls, consisting of an endothelial layer ensconced by a basement membrane and sporadically dispersed smooth muscle fibers, the exchange of substances between the blood and the interstitial fluid becomes plausible. Variance in wall composition exists,...
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Capillary Exchange

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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...
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Contact-dependent Signaling

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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
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Adhesion01:14

Adhesion

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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.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 11, 2026

Fabrication and Visualization of Capillary Bridges in Slit Pore Geometry
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Fabrication and Visualization of Capillary Bridges in Slit Pore Geometry

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Asymmetric capillary bridges between contacting spheres.

Timothy P Farmer1, James C Bird1

  • 1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, United States.

Journal of Colloid and Interface Science
|June 4, 2015
PubMed
Summary

Liquid bridges between spheres can become unstable, forming non-axisymmetric shapes. This study numerically calculates these asymmetric capillary bridge shapes, finding they are spherical and controlled by a single parameter.

Keywords:
Capillary bridgeSurface energy minimization

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Area of Science:

  • Fluid dynamics
  • Surface science
  • Colloid science

Background:

  • Liquid bridges between solid spheres minimize surface energy.
  • Typically assumed to be axisymmetric, analytical solutions exist for stable configurations.
  • Axisymmetric instability can lead to non-axisymmetric bridge formation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To characterize non-axisymmetric capillary bridges between two identical spheres.
  • To numerically calculate the shape of energy-minimizing asymmetric bridges.
  • To compare numerical findings with experimental results.

Main Methods:

  • Numerical calculation of capillary bridge shapes using finite element methods.
  • Minimization of total surface energy for a given liquid volume and contact angle.
  • Experimental validation of calculated bridge configurations.

Main Results:

  • Demonstration that asymmetric capillary bridges adopt a spherical shape.
  • Identification of a single parameter controlling the degree of asymmetry.
  • Dependence of bridge shape on both volume and contact angle.

Conclusions:

  • Non-axisymmetric capillary bridges are spherical.
  • A single parameter governs the asymmetry of liquid bridges between spheres.
  • Understanding these shapes is crucial for predicting capillary interactions.