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Related Concept Videos

Rise of Liquid in a Capillary Tube01:18

Rise of Liquid in a Capillary Tube

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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.
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Capillarity in Fluid01:19

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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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Surface Tension, Capillary Action, and Viscosity02:57

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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...
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Velocity Potential01:20

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In steady, incompressible flow through a long, straight pipe with a uniform cross-section, the flow in the central region (far from the pipe walls) is irrotational. This irrotational nature means that fluid particles do not rotate around their axes, and a scalar function called the velocity potential, represented by ϕ, can be used to describe their movement. In irrotational flows, the velocity field V is defined as the gradient of the velocity potential:
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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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Free Jet01:14

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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:
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Controlling Flow Speeds of Microtubule-Based 3D Active Fluids Using Temperature
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Capillary Action in Scalar Active Matter.

Adam Wysocki1, Heiko Rieger1

  • 1Department of Theoretical Physics and Center for Biophysics, Saarland University, Saarbrücken 66123, Germany.

Physical Review Letters
|February 15, 2020
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Active matter exhibits capillary action, rising in tubes and wetting surfaces due to emergent attraction. This phenomenon is quantified by the active sedimentation length, impacting porous media and suspensions.

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Area of Science:

  • Physics
  • Soft Matter Physics
  • Colloidal Science

Background:

  • Capillary action in classical fluids arises from intermolecular attractions.
  • Active matter, like colloids or bacteria, exhibits self-propulsion and unique collective behaviors.
  • Understanding active matter's interaction with surfaces and porous media is crucial for various applications.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate capillary rise and wetting phenomena in active matter systems.
  • To explore capillarity in a minimal model of scalar active matter with repulsive interactions.
  • To quantify the relationship between capillary phenomena and the active sedimentation length.

Main Methods:

  • Utilizing simulations of a minimal model for scalar active matter.
  • Analyzing capillary rise in thin tubes.
  • Studying wetting of vertical plates.
  • Investigating spontaneous imbibition in disordered porous media.

Main Results:

  • An effective attraction emerges in active matter with purely repulsive interactions due to particle collisions.
  • Capillary rise in thin tubes is proportional to the active sedimentation length (λ).
  • Wetting height on vertical plates scales superlinearly with λ.
  • Imbibition height in porous media scales as ⟨h⟩∝λϕ_{m}.

Conclusions:

  • Active matter can exhibit capillarity through emergent attractive forces.
  • The active sedimentation length is a key parameter governing capillary phenomena in active matter.
  • These findings are relevant for suspensions of active colloids and bacteria in porous environments.