A meniscus is a curve in the surface of a molecular substance (water) when it encounters another material. Imagine water holding to the inside of a glass to get a sense of what it’s like. Adhesion is responsible for a meniscus, and this has to do with the high surface tension of water. The molecules in the glass beaker’s wall attract water molecules. And since water molecules prefer to stick together, when the molecules contacting the glass adhere to it, more water molecules latch to the ones touching the glass, forming the meniscus. The word “cohesion” refers to the intermolecular connection between structurally or functionally related (other water molecules in this case).
Liquid meniscus in capillarity
Capillary action
In a small space, a liquid can flow. Capillary action occurs when the connection to the dividers is more grounded than the strong forces between the liquid atoms. They’ll ascend the glass as far as the powerful water forces will let them until gravity prevents them from rising any higher. A molecule’s intermolecular attraction to another atom is known as union (other water particles for this situation).
The surface tension makes the water rise into the tube, while the bond makes the water adhere to the sides, and attachment carries the other particle with it. The more modest the tube measurement, the higher the water will rise because of surface tension. Trees utilise a capillary action to help water from their foundations to their leaves through their dainty veins.
Liquid Meniscus Profile
The electric field created by charges at the molecule/non-polar liquid limit affects the meniscus profile. The focus directions from the meniscus surrounding silanized glass circles connected to the tetradecane/water interface were digitised. The hypothetical meniscus form is calculated using three methods, yielding mathematically surprising results. For sufficiently small particles, it has been shown that the meniscus profile may be conveyed as a superposition of pure electric and gravitational disfigurements.
Taking Measurements With a Liquid Meniscus in Capillarity
The estimate must depict the meniscus when reading a scale on a holder with a liquid meniscus in capillarity, such as a graded chamber or volumetric carafe. Make sure the line you’re looking at is parallel to the meniscus’s focus point. This is the lowest section of the meniscus for water and most liquids. When estimating mercury, start at the highest point of the meniscus. Regardless, you’re guessing based on the meniscus’s focal point. Make sure the liquid is level for a level meniscus.
In most cases, mounting the compartment on a lab seat will suffice. You won’t be able to look at the liquid level or down into it. Bring the meniscus up to eye level.
You can either get the dishes to carry it to your level or, in all likelihood, twist down to take estimations in circumstances where you’re worried about dropping the holder or spilling its substance. Utilise a similar strategy to take estimations each time to ensure that any mistakes you cause will be predictable. Great arrangements between the forecasts and the estimations are detectable, assuming that a dependable model for the unique contact point is accessible. Albeit just the capillary-rise issue is exhibited, the idea of this technique is similarly relevant to a free surface stream nearby a contact line where good power rules the stream.
Liquid Meniscus in Capillarity Examples
- If Fc = √2Fa tan α = ∞ ∴ α = 900
(where α is angle of contact ,Fc is force of cohesion and Fa is force of adhesion)
The resultant power acts upward and downward. Henceforth the liquid meniscus should be even.
Model: Pure water in a silver-covered capillary tube.
- Fc < √2Fa tan α = positive ∴ α is an intense point, the resultant power coordinated external the liquid. Henceforth, the liquid meniscus should be sunken vertical.
Model: Water in a capillary glass tube.
- Fc > √2Fa tan α = negative ∴ α is the coldhearted point. The resultant power is coordinated inside the liquid. Subsequently, the liquid meniscus should be arched vertical.
Model: Mercury in a capillary glass tube.
Why Does a Meniscus Occur at the Outer Layer of a Liquid?
The meniscus is the bend brought about by surface tension on the upper surface. It may very well be either curved or sunken. A raised meniscus happens when the atoms have a more grounded appreciation for one another (attachment) than for the holder (bond) material, making the outer layer of the liquid cavern descend.
Conclusion
Liquids that rise in small-bore tubes placed into the liquid are said to wet the tube, but liquids that are depressed inside thin tubes below the surface of the surrounding liquid do not wet the tube. Water is a liquid that wets capillary glass tubes; mercury does not. Capillarity is absent when the surface is not moist. Capillarity is the outcome of surface or interfacial forces. The rise of water in a thin tube put in water is generated by forces of attraction between the molecules of water and the glass walls and among the molecules of water themselves. The gravitational pull of the water column that has reached a specific height is countered by these attractive forces.