what is surface tension please explain in detail???
Answers
The surface of a liquid inside a
narrow capillary tube is not planar. The water falls down in the center
and is elevated at the edge where the liquid touches the walls of the capillary
tube. This is due to the attraction between the liquid and the glass
molecules.
Surface tension is defined as the adhesive force per unit length
along the boundary of the surface of the liquid. Another way, the
molecules of water on the surface are pulled inwards by the molecules inside
the surface. Thus the liquid tries to
minimize the surface area exposed to the atmosphere. So all liquid drops become spherical with the
minimum surface area for a given volume.
This force on the surface is called surface tension force.
surface tension is also called surface energy per unit area of the surface.