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CapillaryactionWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Capillaryaction(sometimescapillarity,capillarymotion,orwicking)istheabilityofaliquidtoflowin
narrowspaceswithouttheassistanceof,andinoppositionto,externalforceslikegravity.Theeffectcanbe
seeninthedrawingupofliquidsbetweenthehairsofapaintbrush,inathintube,inporousmaterials
suchaspaper,insomenonporousmaterialssuchasliquefiedcarbonfiber,orinacell.Itoccursbecause
ofintermolecularforcesbetweentheliquidandsurroundingsolidsurfaces.Ifthediameterofthetubeis
sufficientlysmall,thenthecombinationofsurfacetension(whichiscausedbycohesionwithintheliquid)
andadhesiveforcesbetweentheliquidandcontaineracttolifttheliquid.Inshort,thecapillaryactionis
duetothepressureofcohesionandadhesionwhichcausetheliquidtoworkagainstgravity.[1]
Contents[hide]
1History
2Phenomenaandphysicsofcapillaryaction
3Inplantsandtrees
4Examples
5Heightofameniscus
6Liquidtransportinporousmedia
7Seealso
8References

History

[edit]

Thissectionrequiresexpansion.
(June2013)

ThefirstrecordedobservationofcapillaryactionwasbyLeonardodaVinci.[2][3]Aformerstudent
ofGalileo,NiccolAggiunti(16001635),wassaidtohaveinvestigatedcapillaryaction.[4]In1660,capillary
actionwasstillanoveltytotheIrishchemistRobertBoyle,whenhereportedthat"someinquisitiveFrench
Men"hadobservedthatwhenacapillarytubewasdippedintowater,thewaterwouldascendto"some
heightinthePipe".Boylethenreportedanexperimentinwhichhedippedacapillarytubeintoredwine
andthensubjectedthetubetoapartialvacuum.Hefoundthatthevacuumhadnoobservableinfluenceon
theheightoftheliquidinthecapillary,sothebehaviorofliquidsincapillarytubeswasduetosome
phenomenondifferentfromthatwhichgovernedmercurybarometers.[5]
OtherssoonfollowedBoyle'slead.[6]Some(e.g.,HonorFabri,[7]JacobBernoulli[8])thoughtthatliquids
roseincapillariesbecauseaircouldn'tentercapillariesaseasilyasliquids,sotheairpressurewaslower
insidecapillaries.Others(e.g.,IsaacVossius,[9]GiovanniAlfonsoBorelli,[10]LouisCarr,[11]Francis
Hauksbee,[12]JosiaWeitbrecht[13])thoughtthattheparticlesofliquidwereattractedtoeachotherandto
thewallsofthecapillary.
Althoughexperimentalstudiescontinuedduringthe18thcentury,[14]asuccessfulquantitativetreatmentof
capillaryaction[15]wasnotattaineduntil1805bytwoinvestigators:ThomasYoungof
England[16]andPierreSimonLaplaceofFrance.[17]TheyderivedtheYoungLaplaceequationofcapillary
action.By1830,theGermanmathematicianCarlFriedrichGausshaddeterminedtheboundaryconditions
governingcapillaryaction(i.e.,theconditionsattheliquidsolidinterface).[18]In1871,theBritish
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physicistWilliamThomson(LordKelvin)determinedtheeffectofthemeniscusonaliquid'svapor
pressurearelationknownastheKelvinequation.[19]TheGermanphysicistFranzErnst
Neumann(17981895)subsequentlydeterminedtheinteractionbetweentwoimmiscibleliquids.[20]
AlbertEinstein'sfirstpaper,whichwassubmittedtoAnnalenderPhysikin1900,wasoncapillarity.[21][22]

Phenomenaandphysicsofcapillaryaction

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Acommonapparatususedtodemonstratethefirstphenomenonis
thecapillarytube.Whenthelowerendofaverticalglasstubeis
placedinaliquid,suchaswater,a
concavemeniscusforms.Adhesionoccursbetweenthefluidand
thesolidinnerwallpullingtheliquidcolumnupuntilthereisa
sufficientmassofliquidforgravitationalforcestoovercomethese
intermolecularforces.Thecontactlength(aroundtheedge)
betweenthetopoftheliquidcolumnandthetubeisproportionalto
thediameterofthetube,whiletheweightoftheliquidcolumnis
proportionaltothesquareofthetube'sdiameter.So,anarrowtube
willdrawaliquidcolumnhigherthanawidertubewill.

Inplantsandtrees

Capillaryflowexperimentto
investigatecapillaryflowsand
phenomenaaboardtheInternational
SpaceStation

[edit]

Thecapillaryactionisenhancedintreesbybranching,evaporationattheleavescreatingdepressurization,
andprobablybyosmoticpressureaddedattherootsandpossiblyatotherlocationsinsidetheplant,
especiallywhengatheringhumiditywithairroots.[23][24]

Examples

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Capillaryactionisessentialforthedrainageofconstantlyproducedtearfluidfromtheeye.Twocanaliculi
oftinydiameterarepresentintheinnercorneroftheeyelid,alsocalledthelacrimalductstheiropenings
canbeseenwiththenakedeyewithinthelacrymalsacswhentheeyelidsareeverted.
Wickingistheabsorptionofaliquidbyamaterialinthemannerofacandlewick.Papertowelsabsorb
liquidthroughcapillaryaction,allowingafluidtobetransferredfromasurfacetothetowel.Thesmall
poresofaspongeactassmallcapillaries,causingittoabsorbalargeamountoffluid.Sometextilefabrics
aresaidtousecapillaryactionto"wick"sweatawayfromtheskin.Theseareoftenreferredtoaswicking
fabrics,afterthecapillarypropertiesofcandleandlampwicks.
Capillaryactionisobservedinthinlayerchromatography,inwhichasolventmovesverticallyupaplatevia
capillaryaction.Inthiscasetheporesaregapsbetweenverysmallparticles.
Capillaryactiondrawsinktothetipsoffountainpennibsfromareservoirorcartridgeinsidethepen.
Withsomepairsofmaterials,suchasmercuryandglass,theintermolecularforceswithintheliquidexceed
thosebetweenthesolidandtheliquid,soaconvexmeniscusformsandcapillaryactionworksinreverse.
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Inhydrology,capillaryactiondescribestheattractionofwatermoleculestosoilparticles.Capillaryactionis
responsibleformovinggroundwaterfromwetareasofthesoiltodryareas.Differencesinsoilpotential(
)drivecapillaryactioninsoil.

Heightofameniscus

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Theheighthofaliquidcolumnisgivenby:[25]

where istheliquidairsurfacetension(force/unitlength),is
thecontactangle,isthedensityofliquid(mass/volume),gis
localaccelerationduetogravity(length/squareoftime[26]),
andrisradiusoftube(length).Thusthethinnerthespaceinwhich
thewatercantravel,thefurtherupitgoes.

Waterheightinacapillaryplotted
againstcapillarydiameter

Forawaterfilledglasstubeinairatstandardlaboratory
conditions,=0.0728N/mat20C,=0(cos(0)=1),is1000kg/m3,andg=9.81m/s2.Forthese
values,theheightofthewatercolumnis

Thusfora4m(13ft)diameterglasstubeinlabconditionsgivenabove(radius2m(6.6ft)),thewater
wouldriseanunnoticeable0.007mm(0.00028in).However,fora4cm(1.6in)diametertube(radius
2cm(0.79in)),thewaterwouldrise0.7mm(0.028in),andfora0.4mm(0.016in)diametertube(radius
0.2mm(0.0079in)),thewaterwouldrise70mm(2.8in).

Liquidtransportinporousmedia

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Whenadryporousmedium,suchasabrickorawick,isbrought
intocontactwithaliquid,itwillstartabsorbingtheliquidatarate
whichdecreasesovertime.Forabarofmaterialwithcross
sectionalareaAthatiswettedononeend,thecumulative
volumeVofabsorbedliquidafteratimetis

whereSisthesorptivityofthemedium,withdimensionsms1/2or
mmmin1/2.Thequantity

Capillaryflowinabrick,witha
sorptivityof5.0mmmin1/2 anda
porosityof0.25.

iscalledthecumulativeliquidintake,withthedimensionoflength.Thewettedlengthofthebar,thatisthe
distancebetweenthewettedendofthebarandthesocalledwetfront,isdependentonthefractionfofthe
volumeoccupiedbyvoids.Thisnumberfistheporosityofthemediumthewettedlengthisthen
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SomeauthorsusethequantityS/fasthesorptivity.[27]Theabovedescriptionisforthecasewheregravity
andevaporationdonotplayarole.
Sorptivityisarelevantpropertyofbuildingmaterials,becauseitaffectstheamountofrisingdampness.
Somevaluesforthesorptivityofbuildingmaterialsareinthetablebelow.

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