On the use of liquid bridges as tensiometers

  • Authors:

  • M. G. Cabezas;J. M. Montanero

  • Affiliations:

  • Departamento de Electrónica e Ingeniería Electromecánica, Universidad de Extremadura, E-06071 Badajoz, Spain;Departamento de Electrónica e Ingeniería Electromecánica, Universidad de Extremadura, E-06071 Badajoz, Spain

  • Venue:
  • Journal of Computational Methods in Sciences and Engineering - Computational and Mathematical Methods for Science and Engineering Conference 2002 - CMMSE-2002
  • Year:
  • 2004

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Abstract

The measurement of the surface tension associated with the interface between two immiscible liquids requires the use of non-trivial experimental procedures. The Axisymmetric Drop Shape Analysis (ADSA) method has been used by several laboratories because it provides good results over a wide range of situations. In the ADSA method, the theoretical prediction for a drop equilibrium shape is fitted to experimental contours to find the surface tension value. Based on this idea, in the present paper the advantages of using liquid bridges instead of drops are discussed. The sensitivity of both the drop and the liquid bridge equilibrium shapes to the surface tension value is studied from the numerical solution of the Young-Laplace equation. The results show that the use of liquid bridges could lead to better results, especially if non-axisymmetric configurations are considered. The optimal values of the experimental parameters are found, and a numerical algorithm developed to calculate the surface tension value from a liquid bridge photograph is described.