Surface tension of water against a gas not being air

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers on the surface tension of water when interacting with gases other than air, specifically hydrogen. Participants explore the challenges of measuring interfacial energy and seek literature on the topic, while also considering the implications of gas substitution on surface tension properties.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Technical explanation, Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Anders questions the surface tension of water against hydrogen and seeks guidance on where to find relevant data.
  • Another participant notes the difficulty in measuring interfacial energy due to the vapor pressure of water, which complicates experiments with various gases.
  • Anders expresses a belief that replacing air with hydrogen may not significantly alter the surface tension and asks for confirmation of this assumption.
  • A participant highlights the unknown factors affecting surface tension, such as the solubility of hydrogen in water, and mentions the sensitivity of interfacial energy to contamination.
  • References to historical papers by Girifalco and Good are provided, which attempt to calculate interfacial energy from first principles.
  • A suggestion is made to consult Adamson's book "Physical Chemistry of Surfaces" as a resource for further understanding.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on whether replacing air with hydrogen significantly affects surface tension. Multiple viewpoints regarding the impact of gas substitution and measurement challenges remain present.

Contextual Notes

Participants acknowledge limitations in available literature and the complexities introduced by vapor pressure and contamination, which may affect experimental outcomes.

anders_r_r
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Surface tension is a property of two different substances. The surface tension of water against air under different conditions is given in many textbooks and data handbooks. However, if the air is replaced by, say, hydrogen, what will be the surface tension? Where will I have to look for the answer?

Thanks,
Anders
 
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Interfacial energy measurements can be tough to find in the literature. To your specific question, one problem with performing measurements on water with various gases (or vacuum) is the vapor pressure of water- some will evaporate, contaminating the gas/vacuum. Consequently, there is a lot more data on mercury which has a much higher vapor pressure and does not evaporate.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/q435735865465450/
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a910127069
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/i360025a014

Sometimes, you will come across a paper with tables of this kind of data- I used to have one for various materials against dry air. If you do, please post it since I would like to have that data easily available as well!
 
Andy, thank you very much for your input. I will continue to search for some relevant litterature.

I have the feeling that replacing air with hydrogen does not make a big change to the surface tension. Can anyone tell whether this is correct. If it is correct, then why?

/Anders
 
Last edited:
Good question- I don't know. There's too many unknowns: the solubility of hydrogen in water, for example. I do know that the interfacial energy of water is pathologically sensitive to contamination, which makes precision measurements difficult.

Girifalco and Good have some papers where they attempt to calculate the interfacial energy from first principles; these came out in the 60's and 70's. I couldn't make heads or tails of it, tho.

Adamson's book "Physical Chemistry of Surfaces" is an excellent resource.
 

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