Illustrations of Capillarity

(i)                  A piece of blotting paper soaks ink because the pores of the blotting paper serve as capillary tubes.

(ii)                The oil in the wick of a lamp rises up to capillary action of threads in the wick.

(iii)               The root hair of plants draws water from the soil through capillary action.

(iv)              To prevent loss of water due to capillary action, the soil is loosened and split into pieces by the farmers.

(v)                If a capillary tube is dipped in water in an artificial satellite, water rises up to other end of tube because of its zero apparent weight, how long the tube may be,.

(vi)              Action of towel in soaking up water from the body is due to capillary action of cotton in the towel.

(vii)             Melted wax, in a candle rises up to wick by capillary action.

If a clean and dry needle is very slowly kept on the surface of water, it floats due to surface tension.

The addition of detergent or soap decrease the surface tension of water and thus increases the cleaning ability.

Bubbles of soap solution are big because addition of soap decreases the surface tension of water.

When kerosene oil is sprinkled on water, its surface tension decreases. As a result the larvas of mosquitoes floating on the surface of water die due to sinking.

Warm soup is tasty because at high temperature its surface tension is low and consequently the soup spreads on all parts of the tongue.