capillarity

capillarity or capillary action, phenomenon in which the surface of a liquid is observed to be elevated or depressed where it comes into contact with a solid. For example, the surface of water in a clean drinking glass is seen to be slightly higher at the edges, where it contacts the glass, than in the middle. Capillarity can be explained by considering the effects of two opposing forces: adhesion, the attractive (or repulsive) force between the molecules of the liquid and those of the container, and cohesion, the attractive force between the molecules of the liquid (see adhesion and cohesion). Adhesion causes water to wet a glass container and thus causes the water's surface to rise near the container's walls. If there were no forces acting in opposition, the water would creep higher and higher on the walls and eventually overflow the container. The forces of cohesion act to minimize the surface area of the liquid (see surface tension); when the cohesive force acting to reduce the surface area becomes equal to the adhesive force acting to increase it (e.g., by pulling water up the walls of a glass), equilibrium is reached and the liquid stops rising where it contacts the solid. In some liquid-solid systems, e.g., mercury and glass or water and polyethylene plastic, the liquid does not wet the solid, and its surface is depressed where it contacts the solid. Capillarity is one of the causes of the upward flow of water in the soil and in plants.

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capillarity

Rise or fall of liquid in a small passage or tube. When a glass tube of small internal diameter is inserted into water, the surface water molecules are attracted to the glass and the water level in the tube rises. The narrower the tube, the higher the water rises. The water is said to “wet” the tube. Water will also be drawn into the fibres of a towel, even if the towel is in a horizontal position. Conversely, if a glass tube is inserted into mercury, the level of the liquid in the tube falls. The mercury does not wet the tube. Capillarity is caused by the difference in attraction of the liquid molecules to each other and the attraction of the liquid molecules to those of the tube.

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capillarity

Physics a phenomenon caused by surface tension and resulting in the distortion, elevation, or depression of the surface of a liquid in contact with a solid

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capillarity [‚kap·ə′lar·əd·ē]

(fluid mechanics)

The action by which the surface of a liquid where it contacts a solid is elevated or depressed, because of the relative attraction of the molecules of the liquid for each other and for those of the solid. Also known as capillary action.

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capillary action, capillarity

1.The movement of a liquid in the interstices of soil or other porous material, as a result of surface tension.

2. The phenomenon responsible for dry soil sucking up moisture above the ground water level. Also see capillary flow.