SS Connection

Connecting Surface Tension to the World

It is apparent everywhere we go that surface tension affects our life whether we know it or not. First off, it is used in chemicals such as spray paint and insecticides. These two chemicals are extremely common, but sadly, people do not know the physics behind it. In spray paints, lowering the surface tension of the liquid makes the droplets smaller and improves the flow of the single droplets after application. When the surface tension of the wet paint is lower than the surface tension of the substrate, the painting will look the best. Same with insecticides, whether a spray rolls off or sticks to a plant surface depends on the physical and chemical properties. If the surface tension of the mixture is high, the spray droplets will roll off. Other manufactured products that use surface tension are anti-stain glass, food (dissolving powders), waterproofing concrete, and domestics such as creams, mascara, and self-drying shampoos. Not only does it affect goods, it also

shows up in the natural world. The water strider and Jesus lizards are a well-known example of surface tension in nature. Water strider is an insect that has widely spaced feet that repels water and captures air. By repelling water, water striders can stand on the water’s surface and the captured airs allows them to float and move easily. Because surface tension causes water to form a thin membrane-like surface, the water strider is able to literally walk on water. The second principle in my demonstration is air pressure. This affects our ability to breathe. The communities that lived up on the mountains must have had abnormally large lungs to be able to breathe.

As you go up higher in the atmosphere, the air pressure increases causing difficulty in breathing. This would have definitely affected where people settled down or migrated towards. We can see this throughout history because most of the successful civilizations are not placed on mountains (other than the Inca).