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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...

Viscosity of Fluid

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Viscosity measures the resistance a fluid offers to flow and deformation. It results from internal friction between layers of fluid moving relative to one another. Dynamic viscosity, denoted by the Greek letter mu (μ), quantifies the force needed to move one fluid layer over another. For Newtonian fluids like water and air, the relationship between the shearing stress and the rate of shearing strain is linear, meaning their viscosity remains constant regardless of the applied stress.

Viscosity

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When water is poured into a glass, it falls freely and quickly, whereas if honey or maple syrup is poured over a pancake, it flows slowly and sticks to the surface of the container. This difference in the flow of different kinds of liquids arises due to the fluid friction between the liquid layers and the liquid and the surrounding material. This property of fluids is called fluid viscosity. In this example, water has a lower viscosity than honey and maple syrup.
The SI unit of viscosity is...

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Viscosity is a property of fluids that measures their resistance to flow. It is influenced by factors such as the surface area of contact, the gradient of flow speed, and the fluid's viscosity constant, called the coefficient of viscosity. The coefficient of viscosity, also known as dynamic viscosity, is denoted by the symbol η. It determines the proportionality between the viscous force and the gradient of flow speed.Newton's law of viscosity states that the viscous force on a...

Surface Tension of Fluid

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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.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 30, 2026

Fabricating High-viscosity Droplets using Microfluidic Capillary Device with Phase-inversion Co-flow Structure

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Published on: April 17, 2018

Dynamic wetting of viscoelastic droplets.

Yuli Wang¹, Do-Quang Minh², Gustav Amberg²

¹Linné FLOW Center, Department of Mechanics, The Royal Institute of Technology, 100 44 Stockholm, Sweden and School of Energy and Power Engineering, Jiangsu University, 212013 Zhenjiang, China.

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

|November 14, 2015

Summary

Numerical simulations show that both shear thinning and elasticity enhance viscoelastic droplet spreading on surfaces. Spreading speed depends on fluid properties like viscosity ratio and relaxation time, aligning with experimental data.

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Fast Imaging Technique to Study Drop Impact Dynamics of Non-Newtonian Fluids

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Area of Science:

Fluid Dynamics
Rheology
Materials Science

Background:

Understanding droplet spreading is crucial in various industrial applications.
Viscoelastic fluids exhibit complex flow behaviors not fully captured by simple models.

Purpose of the Study:

To numerically investigate the spreading dynamics of viscoelastic droplets on a flat surface.
To analyze the influence of shear-thinning viscosity and elasticity on contact line motion.

Main Methods:

Numerical experiments using Giesekus (shear-thinning) and Oldroyd-B (constant viscosity) fluid models.
Simulations focused on excluding inertial effects to isolate rheological influences.

Main Results:

Both shear thinning and elasticity were found to enhance contact line motion, consistent with experimental observations.
The spreading of the Boger fluid model followed the Tanner-Voinov-Hoffman relation.
Spreading speed demonstrated a significant dependence on rheological parameters, including viscosity ratio and polymeric relaxation time.

Conclusions:

Rheological properties, specifically shear thinning and elasticity, are key determinants of viscoelastic droplet spreading.
Existing molecular migration theories do not fully explain the observed simulation and experimental agreement.