JCE Online Journal of Chemical EducationDivision of Chemical Education, American Chemical SocietyAmerican Chemical Society
 | Subscriptions  | Software Orders  | Support  | Contributors  | Advertisers  | 

JCE Print
   Current Issue
 Previous Issues
 Supplements
 Search JCE Index

JCE Digital Library
   ChemInfo
 DigiDemos
 Featured Molecules
 LivTexts
 LrnCom
 QBank
 SymMath
 WebWare

JCE Software
   Latest Releases
 Software & Video
 Downloads
 Support

Only@JCE Online
   JCE Online Store
 JCE HS CLIC
 JCE Discussion Forums
   Biographical Snapshots
 ChemEd Resource Shelf
 Featured Molecules
 Hal's Picks
 Project Chemlab
 Reviewed WWW Sites
 "Web-Ed" Articles

About JCE
   Features
 Publications
 Operations
 Outreach
 Contact Us


  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2006  > January  >
Research: Science and Education
Axisymmetric Liquid Hanging Drops
Erich C. Meister
Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, ETH Hönggerberg, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland

Tatiana Yu. Latychevskaia
Physics Institute, University of Zurich, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland

Cover
January 2006
Vol. 83 No. 1
p. 117
Abstract
The formation of liquid drops delivered from a circular capillary has found application in drop-volume tensiometers ranging from the early stalagmometer to more recent computer-controlled instruments. Although the phenomenon of drop formation can be observed daily, it is rarely discussed in detail in physics or chemistry teaching courses. The aim of this work is to provide an understanding about the buildup of axially symmetric hanging drops, starting from the Young–Laplace equation and the governing differential equation. Drop shapes that are common for all liquids and capillary dimensions are obtained by numerical integration of the dimensionless differential equation. The growing of drops is discussed in terms of changing geometrical quantities such as drop volume, height, surface area, and contact angle to the capillary. A diagram is presented that shows the existence of three different drop shape types at respective values of capillary size and relative drop volume. Accurate geometrical properties are presented for the drop with maximum height and that with maximum volume and diameter. The historical hypothesis of Lohnstein, who suggested a method to calculate the ratio of the critical hanging volume to the falling volume in the drop separation process, is evaluated. Finally, critical volumes are shown as a function of capillary size and compared with falling and residual volumes that have been calculated using a recommended correction function.
Supplement
Program code and drop data sets are available.
*  Contents Folder JCE2006p0117W containing DROPPROFILES.TAR (Unix archive) four text files.
*  Download
JCE2006p0117W.zip
More Information
*  Citation
 Meister, Erich C.; Latychevskaia, Tatiana Yu. J. Chem. Educ. 2006 83 117.
*  Keywords
 Computational Chemistry; Instrumental Methods; Liquids; Materials Science; Physical Chemistry; Second-Year Undergraduate; Surface Science; Textbooks / Reference Books; Upper-Division Undergraduate
*  History
 Created:
Last Updated:		 12/1/2005
12/7/2005
<< Previous Article Table of Contents Next Article >>
  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2006  > January  > Page 117


Subscriptions
 Subscription Info
 Order Forms

JCE HS CLIC

Our Secondary School editors work hard to distill all the JCE materials to produce a fraction of particular interest to high school teachers. We call it CLIC.
 JCE HS CLIC

Contributions Welcome
JCE welcomes your submission
 Contributors' Corner

Advertisers
In recent years we have worked hard to better match our advertisers with our readers. When shopping for chemistry education materials, visit our advertisers' WWW sites first.
 Recent Advertisers

Be An Ambassador
Take JCE along on your outreach missions. Copies of the Journal, guest access to JCE Online, our publications catalog, and more are available for your participants.
 Outreach with JCE

Comments to
jceonline@chem.wisc.edu		 Copyright © Division of Chemical Education, Inc., American Chemical Society.
All rights reserved.