Abstract

Did you know that when you dip your finger in water and pull it out, the water i
s actually
pulling back on you? Here's a way you can measure how much.
Objective
The goal of this project is to use a homemade single-beam balance to directly me
asure the
surface tension of a liquid.
Introduction
You've seen examples of surface tension in action: water striders walking on wat
er, soap
bubbles, or perhaps water creeping up inside a thin tube. What, exactly, is surf
ace tension?
Surface tension is defined as the amount of energy required to increase the surf
ace area of a
liquid by a unit amount. So the units can be expressed in joules per square mete
r (J/m2).
You can also think of it as a force per unit length, pulling on an object (Melle
ndorf, 2002).
In this case, the units would be in newtons/meter (N/m). Since the forces are so
small, you
often see surface tension expressed in millinewtons per meter (mN/m 1 mN is 1/10
00 N). It's
a good exercise to do the dimensional analysis and prove that both ways of expre
ssing surface
tension J/m2 and N/m are equivalent. If you need a refresher on your units of energy
and force,
there is a good reference in the Bibliography.
The force arises from the mutual attraction between the molecules of the liquid.
Do background
research on the chemistry of water to learn more about its intermolecular attrac
tions. In
particular, you should study up on hydrogen bonding.
In this experiment, you will be making and using a single beam balance to measur
e the force
exerted by surface tension on a needle, floating on the surface of the water. Th
e needle will
be attached to your balance, and you will measure how much force is required to
pull the needle
out of the water. The surface tension of the water is providing the resistance.
From your
measurements, you will be able to calculate the surface tension of water.
Terms, Concepts and Questions to Start Background Research
To do this project, you should do research that enables you to understand the fo
llowing terms
and concepts:
surface tension,
water molecules,
hydrogen bonding of water molecules,
 detergent,
force.
Questions:
Considering what you have learned about hydrogen bonding in your background
research:
will adding detergent to water increase or decrease the surface tension?
will adding rubbing alcohol to water increase or decrease the surface te
nsion?

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Materials and Equipment

To construct a homemade single-beam balance (see Figure 1 in the Experimental
Procedure section), you will need the following:
a beam (e.g., drinking straw, piece of stiff cardboard, wooden or plastic ru
ler),
a fulcrum (e.g., a pin or nail),
2 supports of equal height (e.g., two books arranged back-to-back with a sma
ll space
between them, two cans, two wood blocks),
pan for weights (you can make this from foil),
needle (or 5 cm length of straightened paper clip wire),
thread (for attaching pan and needle to balance),
small bit of modeling clay to counterbalance the empty pan.
You will also need:
a small bowl,
water,
liquid detergent,
plus any other liquids whose surface tension you would like to measure (e.g.
, rubbing
alcohol, cooking oil).
Finally, you will need:
weights (common pins, drops of water from an eyedropper),
and a way to calibrate them (self-service scale at post office, 10 ml gradua
ted
cylinder).
Experimental Procedure
Do your background research.
Gather the materials and find a good place to work.
Figure 1: Diagram of a simple single-beam balance
Figure 1: Diagram of a simple single-beam balance
Constructing the balance (refer to Figure 1).
Take your time and work carefully. You'll get better results.
First construct the beam.
 There are many choices for materials. You just need something stiff
enough to
support a few grams at each end.
You'll need to mark the center point for the fulcrum. Depending on y
our choice of
material, either drill a hole for the fulcrum (e.g., for wood), or simply push i
t through
(e.g., pin through a drinking straw). The beam needs to rotate freely about the
fulcrum.
You'll also need to make holes at each end of the beam, equidistant
from the
center. Attach loops of thread through the holes (paper clips, or ornament hange
rs could also
work), as shown.
Push the fulcrum through the center hole of the beam, and place it o
n the supports.
Next construct the pan.
This can be a simple box or dish folded from aluminum foil. (It's sq
uare in the
diagram only because it was easier to draw.)
If you make a round pan, three strings will work fine for supporting
it.
Tie a thread to the center of your needle or paperclip wire. Adjust the
thread so that
the needle or wire hangs horizontally.
Measuring surface tension.
Hang the pan from one end of the beam and the needle from the other. Use
a small piece
of modeling clay as a counterbalance (as shown in Figure 1) to balance the needl
e and empty pan.
Place your container of water so that the needle (or wire), still hangin
g horizontally,
is submerged in the water.
You will add small amounts of weight to the pan, and measure the force n
eeded to pull
the needle (or wire) free from the surface of the water.
It will not take much weight, so you need to add it in small increments.
Here are two
different methods you could try.
Use common pins as your weights, adding them one at a time. Calibrat
e them by
weighing a bunch of pins on a postal scale, and dividing by the number of pins t
o get the
weight per pin.
Use drops of water from an eyedropper or plastic transfer pipette. Y
ou can
calibrate the water drops by counting how many drops are needed to make, say, 5
ml. Each
ml of water weighs 1 g, so with your count you can calculate how much each drop
weighs.
Try both methods and see how your results compare!
Repeat the measurement (steps 1 3) at least 5 times (more is better), to a
ssure
consistent results. If something goes wrong (e.g., you accidentally tap the pan
and pull
the needle out of the water), repeat the trial from the beginning.
Average your results.
The force you will be measuring can be expressed by the equation:
F = 2sd, where
F is the force, in newtons (N),
 the factor of 2 is because the film of water pulled up by the needle
(or wire)
has 2 surfaces,
s is the surface tension per unit length, in units of newtons/meter
(N/m), and
d is the length of the needle (or wire), in units of meters (m).
To convert grams to the force, F, you have to account for gravity pullin
g down on
the mass in the pan. Do this by multiplying the mass (in grams) by 9.83×10-3 N/g (
for more i
nformation, see the link on "Gravitational Force" in the Bibliography).
You can rearrange the equation above to solve for s, the surface tension
of water.
Measure the length of the needle (or wire), and you'll have all the information
you need to
calculate the surface tension of water.
How do you know that you are measuring surface tension, and not an attra
ctive force
between the needle (or wire) and the water? Here's a good tip from Robert Gardne
r's book
(Gardner, 2004). Surface tension is the cohesive force between water molecules.
Observe the
needle (or wire) carefully after it is pulled out of the water. If it remains we
t, then it
must be the water that pulled apart, and this is the force (surface tension) tha
t you measured.
If it is dry, then the adhesive force between the water and the needle broke fir
st, and this is
what you measured, not surface tension.
Variations
Add a drop of liquid dish detergent to the water in your dish, mix it by sti
rring gently
(you don't want a lot of bubbles), and measure the surface tension again. Do you
think it will
be higher or lower than for plain tap water?
Try measuring the surface tension of other liquids, (e.g., rubbing alcohol,
cooking oil).
Remember note 2j, in the Experimental Procedure section.
For another method of investigating surface tension, see: Build a Motorboat
Powered by
Surface Tension.
For a project on the chemistry of surface tension, see: Measuring Surface Te
nsion of
Water with a Penny.
For more science project ideas in this area of science, see Physics Project
Ideas.
Credits
ADITYA MEHRA