Name: Eghan Kojo

Index N o : 6138811
Experiment N 0 : P 2.2.1
Graduate Assistant: Adolf
Oti Bakye
Date: 12 th March, 2013

TITLE: SURFACE TENSION

AIMS
1. To find the surface tension of different liquids.
2. To be able to operate a Du Nouy tensiometer

INTRODUCTION
Surface tension is a phenomenon where the molecules in a liquid are subject to attractive forces from
adjacent molecules. If the liquid is in bulk, the attractions between molecules are subjected to be equal in all
direction. At the surface, the net attractive force is towards the bulk of the liquid. This phenomenon will
reducing the number of molecules in the surface and increases the intermolecular distance. This will give the
different characteristics of surface from the bulk and gives rise to surface tension and surface free energy.
Surface tension has the dimension of force per unit length or of energy per unit area. The two are equivalent but
when referring to energy per unit of area, people use the term surface energy which is a more general term in
the sense that it applies also to solids and not just liquids.
The cohesive forces between liquid molecules are responsible for the phenomenon known as surface tension.
The molecules at the surface do not have other like molecules on all sides of them and consequently they cohere
more strongly to those directly associated with them on the surface. This forms a surface "film" which makes it
more difficult to move an object through the surface than to move it when it is completely submersed. The
cohesive forces between molecules down into a liquid are shared with all neighboring atoms. Those on the
surface have no neighboring atoms above and exhibit stronger attractive forces upon their nearest neighbors on
the surface. Molecules liquid state experience strong intermolecular attractive forces. When those forces are
between like molecules, they are referred to as cohesive forces. For example, the molecules of a water droplet
are held together by cohesive forces, and the especially strong cohesive forces at the surface constitute surface
tension.
When the attractive forces are between unlike molecules, they are said to be adhesive forces. The adhesive
forces between water molecules and the walls of a glass tube are stronger than the cohesive forces lead to an
upward turning meniscus at the walls of the vessel and contribute to capillary action. The attractive forces
between molecules in a liquid can be viewed as residual electrostatic forces and are sometimes called van der
Waals forces or van der Waals bonds.
Surface tension is measured in SI units of N/m (newton per meter), although the more common unit is
the cgs unit dyn/cm (dyne per centimeter).In order to consider the thermodynamics of the situation, it is
sometimes useful to consider it in terms of work per unit area. The SI unit in that case is the J/m2 (joules per

meter squared). The cgs unit is erg/cm2. These forces bind the surface particles together. Though this binding is
weak - it's pretty easy to break the surface of a liquid after all - it does manifest in many ways.
Surface tension, represented by the symbol is defined as the force along a line of unit length, where the force
is parallel to the surface but perpendicular to the line. One way to picture this is to imagine a flat soap film
bounded on one side by a taut thread of length, L. The thread will be pulled toward the interior of the film by a
force equal to 2L (the factor of 2 is because the soap film has two sides, hence two surfaces). Surface tension is
therefore measured in forces per unit length. Its SI unit is newton per meter but the cgs unit of dyne per cm is
also used. One dyn/cm corresponds to 0.001 N/m.
An equivalent definition, one that is useful in thermodynamics, is work done per unit area. As such, in order to
increase the surface area of a mass of liquid by an amount, A, a quantity of work, A, is needed. This work is
stored as potential energy. Consequently surface tension can be also measured in SI system as joules per square
meter and in the cgs system as ergs per cm2. Since mechanical systems try to find a state of minimum potential
energy, a free droplet of liquid naturally assumes a spherical shape, which has the minimum surface area for a
given volume.
A Tensiometer as it applies to physics is an instrument used to measure the surface tension of liquids or
surfaces. Tensiometers are used in research and development laboratories to determine the surface tension of
liquids like coatings, lacquers or adhesives. A further application field of tensiometers is the monitoring of
industrial production processes like part's cleaning or electroplating.
Because surface tension manifests itself in various effects, it offers a number of paths to its measurement.
Which method is optimal depends upon the nature of the liquid being measured, the conditions under which its
tension is to be measured, and the stability of its surface when it is deformed.
The du Noy ring method is one technique by which the surface tension of a liquid can be measured. This type
of tensiometer uses a platinum ring which is submersed in a liquid. As the ring is pulled out of the liquid, the
tension required is precisely measured in order to determine the surface tension of the liquid. This method
requires that the platinum ring be nearly perfect; even a small blemish or scratch can greatly alter the accuracy
of the results. A correction for buoyancy must be made. This method is considered inaccurate compared to the
plate method but is still widely used for interfacial tension measurement between two liquids.
This technique was proposed by the French physicist Pierre Lecomte du Noy (18831947) in a paper
published in 1925.
Some examples of surface tension are:
Small insects such as the water strider can walk on water because their weight is not enough to penetrate the
surface. Soaps and detergents help the cleaning of clothes by lowering the surface tension of the water so that it
more readily soaks into pores and soiled areas. Disinfectants are usually solutions of low surface tension. This
allows them to spread out on the cell walls of bacteria and disrupt them. Normal urine has a surface tension of
about 66 dynes/cm but if bile is present (a test for jaundice), it drops to about 55. Common tent materials are
somewhat rainproof in that the surface tension of water will bridge the pores in the finely woven material. If
carefully placed on the surface, a small needle can be made to float on the surface of water even though it is
several times as dense as water.

CHEMICALS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Methyl alcohol
Ethyl alcohol
n- propyl alcohol
n-butyl alcohol
Amyl alcohol
Distilled water

APPARATUS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Du Nouy tensiometer (KRSS GmbH, Germany; model: K6; Serial No: 95582)
5 100ml volumetric flasks
Pipette
5 beakers
5 funnels
Electronic balance

PROCEDURE
1. The various alcohols were allocated to one burette and the volume in the table below measured into it.
Alcohol
Methyl alcohol (MeOH)
Ethyl alcohol (EtOH)
n-propyl alcohol (n-PrOH)
n-butyl alcohol (n-BuOH)
Amyl alcohol (AmOH)

Volume measured/ml
0.40
0.58
0.75
0.92
1.08

2. The measured volume was then diluted to 100ml to make up a concentration of 0.1M and the surface
tension determined using Du Nouy tensiometer.
3. The surface tensions of the following moles of amyl alcohol were determined using the Du Nouy
tensiometer 0.01, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06 and 0.10.
TABLE OF RESULTS
Alcohol
Methyl alcohol (MeOH)
Ethyl alcohol (EtOH)
n-propyl alcohol (n-PrOH)
n-butyl alcohol (n-BuOH)
Amyl alcohol (AmOH)

Moles of amyl alcohol

Surface tension in mJm-2

67.0
62.5
56.0
47.0
39.0

Volume measured

Surface tension in

0.01
0.02
0.04
0.06
0.10

mJm-2
48.0
29.0
41.0
47.0
39.0

0.11
0.22
0.43
0.65
1.08

CALCULATIONS
Volume of flask = 100ml = 0.1L
Concentration = amount/volume
Concentration of amyl alcohol/moldm-3
0.1
0.2
0.4
0.6
1.0
Alcohol
Methyl alcohol (MeOH)
Ethyl alcohol (EtOH)
n-propyl alcohol (n-PrOH)
n-butyl alcohol (n-BuOH)
Amyl alcohol (AmOH)

From the equation,

2.
3.

(c )=

c dy
x
RT dc

Where R=8.314 T=298

0.007668337
-0.00484316
-0.00484316
0.00484316
-0.015740271
C=

r ( c ) 7.67 x 103
=
=0.077 M
Vol
0.1

Area=

amount
0.01
2
=
=1.304 A
3
r (c )
7.67 x 10
2

Area of a sphere=4 r =r =

Diameter = 2xr = 0.208m

DISCUSSION

Surface tension/mJm-2
67.0
62.5
56.0
47.0
39.0

Carbon number
1
2
3
4
5

r(0.1)
r(0.2)
r(0.4)
r(0.6)
r(1)

1.

Surface tension of amyl alcohol/mJm-2

48.0
29.0
41.0
47.0
39.0

Area
1.304
=
=0.104 m
4 4 x 3.142

From the result obtained for the different alcohols it can be observed that the surface tension decreases
with an increase in the sizes of the molecules. The anomaly observed in the value of the surface tension of ethyl
alcohol and n-propyl alcohol could be ascribed to an error. Also as the concentration of the amyl alcohol
increases the surface tension decreases. The graph of the surface tension against the concentration of amyl
alcohol shows a decrease in the surface tension as the concentration increases. This is because as the amount of
solute being amyl alcohol increases in its solvent i.e. Water, it decreases its surface tension by increasing
wetting.
Surface tension is directly related to the magnitude of intermolecular forces in a liquid thus the greater the
intermolecular force is, the greater the surface tension. This implies that the smaller the size of the molecule the
higher its intermolecular force. This is because the compound with the smaller size will have more neighbors
surrounding and interacting with it. With large molecules only few neighbors can interact with it because of its
size.
From the first graph, it was observed that the surface tension increases from alcohol with carbon number one to
two, but decreases from alcohol with carbon number two to five as the number of carbons in the alcohols
increases. This is because the smaller the number of carbons the stronger the cohesive force between the alcohol
molecules therefore the higher the surface tension. The more the number of carbons in the alcohol the smaller
the cohesive therefore the smaller the surface tension.
From the second, it was observed that the surface tension of amyl alcohol reduces as the concentration of the
acid increases. This is because the increase in concentration of the acid reduces the bond strength of the
molecules in the alcohol therefore reducing the cohesive force between the molecules. This reduces the surface
tension of the alcohol.
PRECAUTIONS
1. Care was taken not to touch the ring of the tensiometer with the fingers
2. The tensiometer was first standardized with cold water
3. The experiment was assumed to have been done under an ideal condition, which is the room temperature
was assumed to be 20oC.
4. It was ensured that all the glasswares were washed before used to prevent contamination.
5. It was ensured that the pipette was rinsed with the alcohol before used.

CONCLUSION
From the result it can be concluded that surface tension is inversely proportional to concentration and
size of molecule because as concentration and carbon number increases there is a decrease in surface tension.
Surface tension was found to be dependent on temperature, size of molecule and concentration.
REFERENCES
1. John W. M. Bush (May 2004). "MIT Lecture Notes on Surface Tension, lecture 5" (PDF). Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. Retrieved April 1, 2007.
2. Padday, J. F., Pitt, A. R., Pashley, R. M., 1974, "Meniscus at a free liquid surface: surface tension from
the maximum pull on a rod, J. Chem. Soc., Far. Trans. I, 71(10), 19191931 (1974)
3. Christian, S. D., Slage, A. R., Tucker, E. E., and Scamehorn, J. F., "Inverted Vertical Pull Surface
Tension Method", Langmuir, 14(X), 31263128 (1998)

4. G. Ertl, H. Knzinger and J. Weitkamp; (1997) Handbook of heterogeneous catalysis, Vol. 2, Wiley-

VCH; Weinheim; page 430