The capillarity, A characteristic of liquids is the phenomenon that makes the surface of a fluid that comes into contact with a solid body go up or down. In addition to the fact that it may or may not wet the element in question.
This property depends on the surface tension of the liquid. This tension provides resistance to the new object that comes into contact with the liquid. The surface tension is related to the cohesion of the fluid that we are observing.
Depending on the surface tension that is present at that moment, the liquid can rise or fall through the capillary tube. That is why it is known as capillarity.
The less cohesion of the molecules of the liquid, the fluid adheres to the new body that comes into contact with it. The fluid is then said to wet the new body and work its way up the duct. The ascent will continue until the surface tension balances.
Some insects can walk through water, this is because the weight of the insect is compensated by the resistance of the water when it is deformed.
If we put a glass tube in a container with water, the water level will rise through the tube.
If we introduce a larger diameter tube, the water will stay at a lower level. The surface of the liquid will be left with a concave shape called the meniscus.
If we introduce a capillary tube into the mercury, the level of this will rise through the tube but less as the water.
In addition, its surface will present a convex curvature of an inverted meniscus.
As with insects, the surface tension that is created makes the leaf or some flowers float in the water without sinking, even though their weight is greater than that of water..
Through the phenomenon of capillarity, plants extract water from the soil and transport it to their leaves.
Nutrients rise through the capillaries of plants until they reach all parts of the plant.
The sap rises along the tree thanks to the capillary process. The rise is due to the fact that in the leaves there is an evaporation of the liquid that causes a negative pressure to be produced in the xylem, causing the sap to rise due to the action of capillarity. It can reach a height of 3 km of ascent.
If we place a paper napkin that touches the surface of the water and leaves the container, through the capillary process the water can move through the napkin, leaving the container.
Just as we can make the liquid come out of the container, as in the previous example, if we connect two containers through an absorbent material such as a paper napkin, the water from one container will pass to the other..
There are some detergents and soaps that have chemical compounds that cause them to deposit on water and the surface tension prevents them from sinking..
The capillarity of some soils causes the water to rise through the ground until it exceeds the water table, despite the fact that it is a movement contrary to gravity..
The capillarity that some walls present causes water to seep into them and into the houses.
This causes that in houses there is a higher concentration of water molecules in the air, which is known as humidity..
When we dip the cookies in the milk at breakfast, the action of the capillarity makes the milk enter the cookie, thus increasing the liquid capacity of the cookie..
As the milk rises through the cookie, it undoes the cohesion forces of the solid and therefore the cookie breaks.
If we take a piece of butter and stick a wick in it and light it with a match, it will burn.
However, butter that is in contact with oxygen in the air does not burn. This happens because the capillarity of the candle allows the melted butter to rise through the wick and function as a fuel for combustion..
The capillarity of sugar cubes means that if we put them in contact with a liquid, such as water, the cubes absorb it in a way that they retain the liquid within them..
If the liquid is in higher concentration than the sugar cube, it can make the cohesion forces of the sugar cube break.
To observe the phenomenon of capillarity that occurs in plants, we can immerse the stem of a flower in a container with a colorant.
Through the capillarity of the flower, the water will rise to its petals and change their color.
For water to rise to the surface of a land, the land has to be porous. The more porous the ground, the lower the adhesion forces of the water, so the water will filter more.
For example, soils with sand and gravel, being more porous, drain the water quickly, while clay soils, the water does not drain and forms puddles, since the pores are much smaller..
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