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Water for Surface Tension Experiments


Water used for surface tension measurements must not contain impurities that would reduce the surface tension of water, and give artificially low measurements.

  • Organics
    Organics, especially surfactants, decrease the surface tension of water. The polar end of the surfactant molecules interact strongly with water molecules, disrupting the strong hydrogen bonds between water molecules that cause surface tension.

  • Ions
    Salts also lower surface tension of water, though not to the extent that surfactants do.

  • Particles
    Particles will disrupt the surface tension of water.

  • Bacteria
    Since bacteria are particulates, like particles, they would disrupt surface tension. They also release by-products such as ions and organics.

Thus, water used for surface tension measurements need to of the highest purity:

  • Low organic contamination, measured as total oxidizable carbon (TOC)
  • No ionic contamination, that is, having 18.2 MΩ.cm resistivity
  • Particle-free
  • Bacteria-free


     
 

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