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CHAPTER 1
Surface Phenomena:

Chapter Objectives
• Explain the surface tension and capillarity
phenomena

• Describe measurement methods related to

both phenomena

• Investigate effects of temperature and

concentration on surface tension 2

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Type of Surface Phenomena

Adsorption

Electrical Surface Capillarity

double layer Phenomena

Surface 3
tension

What is surface tension?

 A measurement of the cohesive energy present at
an interface.

 The molecules of a liquid attract each other. The

interactions of a molecule in the bulk of a liquid are
balanced by an equal attractive force in all
directions.
 Molecules on the surface of a liquid experience an
imbalance of forces as shown in the figure.
 Surface tension is denoted by  (gamma), unit:
dyne/cm or N/m.

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A molecule at the surface misses half its

interactions

Surface Tension, 
an effect within the surface layer of a
liquid that causes that layer to behave as an
elastic sheet

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Surface Tension as a Force

 caused by the attraction between the molecules

of the liquid by various intermolecular forces

Definition of Interface
• INTERFACE is the boundary between two or more phases (solid,
liquid or gas) exist together
• Interfacial tension: the force per unit length existing at the
interface between two phases (immiscible with each other)
• When one phase is gas, the term “surface tension” is more
commonly used.

Gas
Surface tension
Liq 1
Interface
Liq 2 Interfacial tension
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Types of interface

Cohesive and Adhesive Forces

• The force which BOUND molecules together is known as
molecular force
• There are 2 types of molecular force:
• Cohesive force: Force of attraction/repulsion between the
molecules of the same substance is called as cohesive force.
• Adhesive force: Force of attraction between the molecules of
different substances is called as adhesive force.

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Examples of Surface Tension

Walking on water: Water strider can walk on
water because their weight is not enough to
penetrate the surface.

Floating a paper clip: even though several times

as dense as water, a needle carefully placed on the
surface of water can float. If agitated to break up
the surface tension, then needle will quickly sink.

Soaps and detergents: help the cleaning of clothes by

lowering water's surface tension to more readily soak
into soiled areas.

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SEM images of the triple line on the

polycarbonate surface

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Surface tension of some liquids

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Surface Tension and Surface

Energy
• Surface tension is not a force, but rather a force per unit
length.
• Surface tension can be also measure in terms of energy per
area.
• Energy in ISI unit (Joule) is equivalent to N.m
• Term of ‘Surface energy’ is usually used in determining surface
tension of material in solid phase

𝑑𝑦𝑛𝑒 𝑁 𝑁. 𝑚 𝐽
1 𝑚
=1 𝑚
=1 𝑚2
=1 𝑚2

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Example
• The surface tension at 20 °C for several alcohols is
γ (CH3O) = 22.61 dyne·cm-1, and γ (C2H5OH) = 2.275 X 10-2 N.m-1
and γ (n-C3H7OH) = 23.78 mJ.m-2
Which of these alcohols has the greatest surface tension ?

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Contact angle and wetting

Examples of wetting phenomena in daily life?

- Drops on a glass
- Dispersing a powder in a milk
- Penetration of liquid into porous soil
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When the forces of adhesion are greater than the forces of

cohesion, the liquid tends to wet the surface..
Place a drop of a liquid on a smooth surface of a solid. According
to the wettability, the drop will make a certain angle of contact
with the solid.
A contact angle is lower than 90°, the solid is called wettable
A contact angle is wider than 90°, the solid is named non-wettable.
A contact angle equal to zero indicates complete wettability.

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Capillarity
 Also known as capillary action
 It is a result of surface or interfacial tension
 The ability of a liquid to flow in narrow spaces without the
assistance of, and in opposition to, external forces like
gravity
 Capillarity manifests in many ways in the everyday world.
Paper towels absorb through capillarity. When burning a
candle, the melted wax rises up the wick due to capillarity. In
biology, though blood is pumped throughout the body, it is
this process which distributes blood in the smallest blood
vessels which are called, appropriately, capillaries.
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Surface tension measurement

methods
1. Capillary rise
2. Ring (Du-Nuoy) method
3. Drop-volume and drop-weight

The choice of the method for measuring surface

and interfacial tension depend on:
• Whether surface or interfacial tension is to be determined.
• The accuracy desired
• The size of sample. 19

1. Capillary rise method

• The force due to the surface tension is given by:

 The gravitational force is given by:

 At equilibrium:

 For most liquids, =0 and cos =1. Then

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• Example:
• A sample of chloroform rose to a height of 3.67
cm at 20°C in a capillary tube having an inside
radius of 0.01 cm. What is the surface tension of
chloroform at this temperature? The density of
chloroform is 1.476 g/cm3.

A 0.2 mm diameter tube was placed in a

sample of water at 20 °C. As a result of
capillary action, the water rose inside the
tube to a height of 11.40 cm. Determine the
exact diameter of the tube
given γ = 72.75 X 10-3

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Problem 2
Compare the heights to which water and carbon tetrachloride
will rise as a result of capillary action in a tube with an internal
diameter of 0.1 mm. At 20C the surface tensions of water and
carbon tetrachloride, respectively, are 0.0727 and 0.0268 Nm-1,
and their densities are 0.998 and 1.595 g L-1.
(Gravity acceleration : 9.8 m/s 2 )

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 The force required to detach a ring from

a surface or interface.
 It is measured from the arm of a balance
or by using the torsion wire arrangement
(du Nouy tensiometer)
 Platinum ring probe is often used
 The surface or interfacial tension can be
given by

where, F: pull on the ring

ri: inner rad, ra: outer rad
R: mean radius of the ring

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3. Drop volume and drop

weight method



V

Correction factor is required because

on detachment
(a)The drop does not completely leave
the tip
(b)The surface tension forces are
seldom exactly vertical
depends on ratio r/V1/3 and have been
determined empirically by Harkins and
Brown (Journal of American Society
(1919)).

Guggenheim-Katayama Equation:
n
 T
 =  o 1 - 
 Tc 

log  =log  o + n log  1-T/Tc 

Tc : Critical temperature – the temperature at

which gas and liquid phases are no longer
distinguishable
n : is an empirical factor, whose value is 11/9 for
organic liquids
γo : Surface tension of liquid at 25C

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Surface tension (mN m-1) ofsome liquids

0oC 20oC 40oC 60oC 80oC 100oC

H2 O 75.64 72.75 59.56 66.18 62.61 58.85

Ethanol 24.05 22.27 20.60 19.01 - -
Acetone 26.20 23.70 21.20 18.60 16.20
Toluene 30.74 28.43 26.13 23.81 21.53 19.39
Benzene 31.60 28.90 26.30 23.70 21.30

Hg (0oC) 480 Ag (970oC) 800

NaCl (1080oC) 94 AgCl (452oC) 125
Intermolecular forces

Coefficient of Spreading
 SBA is defined as the coefficient of spreading of liquid B on the
surface of A. It is defined as the difference between the work of
adhesion (work of needed to separate one liquid from another)
and work of cohesion (work needed to pull a column of pure
liquid apart).
 If SBA is positive then liquid B will spread on the surface of A
(oil on water)
 If SBA is negative then liquid B will remain as a drop on the
surface of A.

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Industrial applications of surface

tension
• Water repellent coating
• Surface acting agents (detergent)
• Many chemical engineering processes (e.g.
adsorption, liquid extraction)
• Evaporation and condensation of thin liquid
films (technology now widely used in the fast
growing micro-electronics industry)
• Anti-icing
• Anti-fogging
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Group Assignment
• Write an 10-15 pages article on application of surface
phenomena in various applications. Your article should
consist:
• Background/history of the application/device
• Explanation on how the surface phenomena applied in the
application
• Illustration in molecular level
• Recent technology/news about the application
• Advantage/Importance of the application
• Reference (were you got all the information)

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• Date of submission and presentation : on week 5 & 6.

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1. Water repellent coating

2. Superhydrophobic material
3. pharmaceutical industries
4. Soap & detergent
5. Ink and Paint
6. Photographic Technology
7. Anti-icing material
8. Anti-fogging material
9. Drug production
10. Lipid research
11. Colloidal Processing of Ceramics
12. Fusion welding processes
13. Cosmetic
14. Food
15. Paper Industries
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16. Agriculture
17. Biomedical Application

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