Nutrients dissolved in water are carried to upper parts of plants by tiny tubes partly because of the capillary effect. Determine how high the water solution will rise in a tree in a 0.002-mm-diameter tube as a result of the capillary effect. Treat the solution as water at 20°C with a contact angle of 15°.
FIGURE P2-103
Solution
Introduction
Nutrients dissolved in water are carried to upper parts of plants by tiny tubes due to the capillary rise. Capillary rise is the ability of a liquid to flow in narrow space without the assistance of, or even opposition to external forces like gravity.
Step 1
Given ,The temperature of the water solution , T=200 C
Diameter of the capillary tube, D =0.002 mm and the diameter of the tube is constant.
The contact angle is 150
We know that ,
The surface tension of the water at 200 C, σs =0.073 N/m
The density of the water solution ρ =1000 kg/m3
