Surface Tension Essay Example

Processed Data:
Table 1: Data in measuring the height of the water Trial | Height of water (m) | 1 | 0.032 | 2 | 0.032 | 3 | 0.032 | Average: | 0.032 |

Table 2: Values for measuring the radius of capillary Temperature | 30 degrees Celsius | Density @ 30 degrees Celsius | 995.67 kg m-3 | Acceleration due to gravity | 9.8 m s2 | Height of water | 0.032 m | Surface tension of water@ 30 degrees Celsius | 7.118 X 10-2 N m | Radius of capillary tube | 4.5592825 X 10-4 m |

Table 3: Values for the height of n-butanol solutions in capillary tube Temperature | Trial | 0.1 M | 0.2 M | 0.4 M | 0.6 M | 0.8 M | 30 degrees Celsius | 1 | 0.022 | 0.023 | 0.023 | 0.024 | 0.025 | | 2 | 0.022 | 0.023 | 0.024 | 0.025 | 0.026 | | 3 | 0.022 | 0.024 | 0.024 | 0.025 | 0.026 | Average | 0.022 | 0.0233 | 0.0237 | 0.0247 | 0.0257 |

Table 4: Values for surface tension Concentration | Density (kg m3) | Acc. due to gravity (m s-2) | Height (m) | Radius (m) | Surface tension (N m-1) | 0.1 M | 910 | 9.8 | 0.022 | 4.5592825 X 10-4 | 0.04472564947 | 0.2 M | 920 | | 0.0233 | | 0.04788906204 | 0.4 M | 930 | | 0.0237 | | 0.04917091975 | 0.6 M | 940 | | 0.0247 | | 0.05187013633 | 0.8 M | 950 | | 0.0257 | | 0.0545442923 |

Table 5: Values for excess concentration, cross-sectional area, & molecular radius of n-butanol Temperature | 303 K | Excess concentration | 7.9387 mol m-2 | Cross-sectional area | 2.09 X 1048 Å | Molecular radius of n-butanol | 8.156394192 X 1023 Å |

Figure 1: Plot of n-butanol concentration versus surface tension

Figure 2: Plot of surface tension versus ln C

Discussion: The objective of the experiment is to use the capillary rise method to determine the surface tension of the working solution – in this case, the increasing concentrations of n-butanol solution. In a solution, molecules experience intermolecular forces with each other. However, the molecules in the surface of the solution