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    • 2013 Publication

CAPILLARY ATTRACTION

Editor’s Note: In this piece Caroline Arena (‘19) explores the forces involved in capillary attraction.
Put a glass tube in a bowl of water and the water will rise in the tube to a height much greater than the surface level of the water in the bowl, seemingly in defiance of the laws of gravity. How can that be, you ask? The answer is capillary attraction -- a process that explains many common, daily occurrences, such as the way that plants absorb nutrients in the ground or the manner in which a paper towel soaks up spilled water. The secret to capillary attraction relates to the interplay between two forces –- cohesion and adhesion. Cohesive forces are responsible for water’s surface tension. The hydrogen molecules at the surface of water cling to one another, and keep water from spreading out indefinitely. Think of a group hug where the people on the outside keep trying to force their way into the middle of the group. Adhesive forces sound similar to cohesive forces, but are entirely different. Adhesion is the attraction of one kind of molecule for another entirely different kind of molecule. Hydrogen molecules in water “like” each other (cohesion), but there are other types of molecules that hydrogen molecules “like” even more (adhesion). For instance, hydrogen molecules in water love to bond with oxygen molecules on the surface of glass, which explains why water will creep up a glass tube until the pull of gravity becomes too great.
Although most of us spend little time thinking about capillary attraction, it is a remarkable process. Ever wonder how water travels from the base of a redwood to the tree’s uppermost leaves more than 300 feet above the ground? The answer is capillary attraction. The trunk of a redwood tree contains millions of small tubes called “xylem,” each of which is made up of cells to which water molecules like to stick. As water evaporates from the leaves of a redwood, the evaporating water molecules start a suction pull of the water around it. This creates a chain reaction in which each cell in the xylem tube pulls up water from the cell beneath it, all the way to the ground, just as a paper towel soaks up water. The reason that redwoods are narrower at their top than at their base is that at some point gravity starts to equal the force of capillary attraction, and the water molecules in the redwood’s xylem tubes cannot ascend any higher above the ground. The forces of cohesion and adhesion, while crucial to an understanding of capillary attraction, also appear to have relevance outside the realm of science.
People often have a natural tendency to associate with others who share similar interests and come from similar backgrounds. In this sense, people are susceptible to cohesive forces. But, people also enrich themselves when they associate with, and are attracted to, others from different backgrounds and with diverse interests. Forming adhesive bonds with others unlike oneself can often be more powerful and rewarding than resigning oneself to the monotony and sameness of a cohesive group of the like-minded. Just as capillary attraction is crucial to sustaining the life of a redwood, forming adhesive relationships with people different from oneself is critical to a person’s well-being and to the health of the community.

Works Cited
Capillarity and gravity. (n.d.). Retrieved April 02, 2017,from http://web.mit.edu/nnf/education/wettability/gravity.html.
Trees & Capillary Action. (n.d.). Retrieved April 02, 2017, from http://www.davidlnelson.md/Cazadero/Trees&CapillaryAction.htm.
Tree Physics 1: capillary action, the height of trees, and the optimal placement of branches. (2008, August 05). Retrieved April 02, 2017, from https://npand.wordpress.com/2008/08/05/tree-physics-1/.
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  • Home
  • Who We Are
  • HOW TO SUBMIT
  • Past Publications
    • 2019 Publication >
      • Scientific Research
      • Mathematical Exploration
      • Scientific Exploration
      • Computer Science
    • 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