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Capillary Attraction - Naming a Phenomenon 
by Joshua Epstein('20) 

A lot like many of the wonders of the physical world, there are a lot of common-sense actions that we know work, however, lack a name for them. One term I believe should be more widely known is capillary attraction. That is, “a manifestation of surface tension by which the portion of the surface of a liquid coming in contact with a solid is elevated or depressed, depending on the adhesive or cohesive properties of the liquid”. We see capillary action, another name for it, very apparent in many commonplace activities. When you pour water into a glass, a concave meniscus forms because the water molecules are more attracted to the glass than themselves. That is why we see the water almost clinging to the sides of the cup instead of recessing into other H2O molecules and forming a simple flat surface at the top of the water. This specific occurrence is because glass, which is made up of very polar molecules, is commonly formed with a silicon oxide crystal lattice structure which is more attractive than H2O molecules. The tube on the left is the thinnest, so we see more capillary rise because there is more adhesion to the tube and pressure, which enables the H2O molecules to reach higher parts of the glass. And let’s say you spill some of that water on your table. When you go to clean it up with a paper towel, you will notice that even though only part of the paper towel will be touching the water on the table, it will slowly spread to the rest of the towel because of capillary action. Another common form of capillary attraction in your daily life could be seeing people water plants and trees, and if you are wondering how the water can travel from the roots to the highest part of some trees, the answer is by being helped by capillary action. Additionally, if you see a candle, capillary attraction allows the melted wax to rise up the wick to keep the flame alive. These are all good examples of how capillary action works in the world around you. However, if you are looking for examples of how it works inside of you, look no further than yourself on a sad night: capillary action helps your tears travel through your tear ducts! Below are two more common applications of capillary action. Capillary action has been studied for hundreds of years, dating back to Leonardo da Vinci, but some of the most substantive information we have on the phenomenon has been obtained in the last two centuries. For further information on capillarity, I recommend starting out with the Young-Laplace equation and the Kelvin equation.

References
Capillarity. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2018, from http://www.dictionary.com/browse/capillary--attractio n Capillary action. (2018, March 16). Retrieved March 28, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capillary_action Capillary action and why we see a meniscus.
(n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2018, from https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/water-acids-and-bases/cohesion-and-adhesion/v/capillary-action-and-why-we-see-a-meniscus The Kelvin equation.
(n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2018, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021979707014403 L. (2017, August 28). Capillary Action. Retrieved March 28, 2018, from https://chem.libretexts.org/Core/Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry/Physical_Properties_of_Matter/States_of_Matter/Properties_of_Liquids/Capillary_Action Smith, P.
(n.d.). Capillary Action. Retrieved March 28, 2018, from https://astarmathsandphysics.com/a-level-physics-notes/fluid-dynamics/2746-capillary-action.html What are some of the applications of capillary action?
​(n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2018, from https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-of-the-applications-of-capillary-action
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  • Home
  • Who We Are
  • HOW TO SUBMIT
  • Past Publications
    • 2018 Publication >
      • Artistic Creations
      • Historical and Current Explanations
      • Mathematic and Scientific Exploration
      • Scientific Research
    • 2017 Publication >
      • Artistic Creations
      • Historical and Current Explanations
      • Mathematic and Scientific Exploration
      • Reactions and Responses
      • Scientific Research
    • 2016 Publication >
      • Historical and Current Explanations
      • Mathematic and Scientific Explorations
      • Scientific Research
      • Reactions and Responses
      • Artistic Creations
    • 2015 Publication >
      • Historical and Current Explanations >
        • Bell Curves
        • Birds Vs. Turbines
        • Energy in the Obama Era
        • The Future of Neuroscience
        • Gender Gap in Math
        • GMOs--Yes or No?
        • The History of Minecraft: How a Swedish Indie Game Came to Dominate the World
        • The Effect of Prozac on the Brain
        • Philae Lander's Discovery of Organic Molecules
        • Advantages and Disadvantages of Wind Turbines
        • Your Own Worst Enemy: An Overview of Lupus
        • The Methylhex Ban
        • The Effect of Lyme Disease on the Immune system
        • Infectious Mononucleosis
        • Replacing CFCs
        • The Switch
      • Mathematic and Scientific Explorations >
        • The 43rd Figure
        • The Clock
        • The Collatz Conjecture
        • Constructing a Soccer Ball
        • Determining how Ballparks Affect Batter's Ability to Create Hits
        • The Rotating Conundrum
        • Pythagorean Puzzle
        • Mathematic and Scientific Explorations
        • Kinetics Lab
        • Math in the Restaurant Business
        • Math as a Vessel for Social Change
        • Sustainability of Bottled Vs. Tap Water
        • Thoughts on the Lottery
        • Understanding Player Efficiency Rating
      • Scientific Research >
        • Communicating With Computers
        • The Mystery of Asthma
        • The Nanoscopic War Against Cancer
        • Phytochemistry
        • Solving the energy crisis with Intermediate Band Solar Cells
        • A Pain That Never Ends
        • Rapamycin Resistance
        • Ampacity of a Single Core Horizontal Cable
        • Morphological Properties of Texting Acronym Formation
        • cGAS and STING Expression
      • Reactions and Responses >
        • Can Humans Survive the Climate Crisis?
        • My Experience as a Teacher's Assistant
        • Ted Talk Responses
        • Teens For Food Justice
      • Artistic Creations >
        • Chandelier
        • Deltoidal Hexacontrahedon
        • Dodecahedron Card Trick
        • Eye of the Triangle
        • Free Radric Delantic Davis
        • The Grid
        • What Does A Randomly Composed Song Sound Like?
        • Science Wing Mural
    • 2014 Publication >
      • Cover Photo
      • Artistic Creations >
        • Art Using the Fibonacci Sequence
        • Computer Generated Architecture and Designs
        • Mathematical Landscape
        • Math Art
        • Math in Music
      • Historical and Current Explanations >
        • Algae Bio-Fuel
        • An Energy Alternative
        • Clean Energy In Transportation
        • Calorie Restriction
        • Creating Energy in the Modern World
        • Dietary Intervention Impact on Gut Microbial Gene Richness
        • Earthly Applications for NASA Technology
        • Explaining Relative Motion
        • Exploring Artificial Inteligence
        • Gamma Function
        • How Leaves Work
        • Hydrogen Fuel Cells
        • Music and Brain Development
        • Programming Calculators
        • The Science of Microsatellites
        • Sci-Fi Taser
        • Sloane's Gap
        • Sustainable Energy: Why Some Ideas Shine Brighter than Others
        • Understanding The Galvanic Cell
        • The Virus: Our Unforeseen Philosopher's Stone
        • What Are Fuel Cells and How Do They Work?
      • Mathematic and Scientific Explorations >
        • Astrocytes Expressing ALS-Linked Mutated SOD1 Release Factors Selectively Toxic to Motor Neurons
        • Big Bang
        • Dictyostelium Discoideum
        • The Future of Solar Cell Technology
        • And Many More...
      • Reactions and Responses >
        • Alternative Energy Sources, New but Unused
        • An Insight Into the Curious World of Ethnobotany
        • Challenging What We Think We Know
        • The Current State of American Education
        • Discovering New Numbers
        • Interview With an Architect
        • Life of Pi Response
        • Mathematical Art Video Commentary
        • Missing from Science Class
        • The Museum of Math
        • The Inside Scoop on a Real Mathematician
    • 2013 Publication
  • 2019 Publication
    • Scientific Research
    • Mathematical Exploration
    • Scientific Exploration
    • Computer Science