Questions tagged [capillary-forces]
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5 questions
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Can there be an aqueous solution with a convex meniscus?
This question is motivated by a quote from a TV show:
A detective is looking at a small vial (really a glass tube) that supposedly contains poison. Then the detective says:
You don't have to take AP ...
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Where does the potential energy of capillary action come from?
Capillary action is when water pulls itself up a paper towel, glass tube or a tree. It is going up, which results in an increase in potential energy. According to the law of conversation of energy, ...
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Why does the liquid in an Oralmedic stick flow uphill after I turn it upside-down?
I was experimenting with an Oralmedic stick, which is basically a cotton swab with a hollow stick that has liquid medicine inside, and observed something very unexpected. I followed the usage ...
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Capillary action only works with glass tubes?
I tried to reproduce the capillary action and measure how high the water rises. So far, I've tried unsuccessfully with a regular drinking straw and a very narrow plastic tube with an internal diameter ...
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Capillary forces in horizontal plane
In a physical chemistry course, we went to the lab and made a microstamp out of an elastomer. This stamp has gaps of 25 µm in width. When the elastomer had hardened, we placed it on a microscope slide ...
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