Issue 0, 1978

Shape of a meniscus in a rotating vertical tube

Abstract

The shape of the meniscus separating two immiscible fluid phases in a rotating vertical, cylindrical tube has been calculated numerically from Laplace's equation of capillarity for the case of complete wetting of the tube wall by the lower fluid. Values of the experimentally most accessible quantity, namely the vertical displacement of the bottom of the meniscus, are presented in a detailed table as a function of speed of rotation and capillary constant. Measured displacements are in good agreement with theoretical predictions. The numerical data can be used to determine surface and interfacial tensions. The method has certain experimental advantages over the well-established method of spinning drops in a horizontal tube. However, an error analysis indicates, and the experiments confirm, that the method becomes clearly inferior for low interfacial tensions, because of the increasingly dominant influence of gravity under these conditions. The influence of incomplete wetting is also briefly considered.

Article information

Article type
Paper

J. Chem. Soc., Faraday Trans. 1, 1978,74, 555-574

Shape of a meniscus in a rotating vertical tube

M. P. Aronson and H. M. Princen, J. Chem. Soc., Faraday Trans. 1, 1978, 74, 555 DOI: 10.1039/F19787400555

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Spotlight

Advertisements