Question
What do liquid surfaces tend to keep their surface area minimum Discuss with some examples. Mention the factors on which surface tension depends.
Answer
Liquid surfaces tend to keep their surface area minimum due to surface tension, which is the force that causes the surface of a liquid to behave like an elastic membrane. For example, when a drop of water is placed on a flat surface, it forms a sphere to minimize its surface area. Soap bubbles and oil droplets in water also exhibit this behavior due to surface tension.
The surface tension of a liquid depends on the following factors:
- Intermolecular forces between molecules of the liquid.
- The size of the molecules or atoms that make up the liquid.
- The temperature of the liquid.
