Naked Science Forum

General Science => General Science => Topic started by: ProjectSailor on 14/09/2015 16:28:07

Title: How does capillary action work?
Post by: ProjectSailor on 14/09/2015 16:28:07

Heres a good one for you that stumps me everytime...

Capilliary action can allow a fluid to go uphill.. this gains potential energy.. where from? I know its clever stuff with surface tensions but when i watch a fluid flow literally uphill I can't help but feel that I am being cheated! I watched liquid helium doing crazy stuff and thought I would see if you guys knew a thing or two about this free energy!

Like a rollin stone!

Title: Re: Capilliary action - how does it seemingly get energy from nowhere?
Post by: Colin2B on 16/09/2015 23:00:11

Stored energy can appear to be from nothing. Consider a rock on top of a hill, put there by geological forces a source of free energy if rolled downhill. Similarly water in a hydroelectric system, put there by heat of sun. Radioactivity etc.
Intermolecular forces, for capillary action, are formed with the molecules.

Title: Re: Capilliary action - how does it seemingly get energy from nowhere?
Post by: Karen W. on 29/10/2015 15:51:26

      I am not a scientist but I believe that gravity plays a huge part in capillary action...although its been a long time since I did any good reading on the subject but I have had a thing for old Albert Einstein , but my memory these days seems lacking   as I am on many medications and have late stage chronic lyme disease among other things..so sometimes my brain feels full of mush, rather then the well mylenated memories of past learnings, and it tends to be spotty at times.. so forgive if I am off a year or two or forgetting details...
      In 1900 or 1901 or so give or take a year. But I believe 1901, I believe Einstein wrote and had published his first scientific article in Germany. It was put out under the title of "Folger Unger Australia den Capillaritatserscheinungen" ("conclusions drawn from the phenomena of Capillarity")  Obviously dealing with Capillary  action... I do not remember the publishing company, that published the article..it has been so long ago, I do not recall exact details about what I read. You might try looking it up, and reading up on some of his ideas, and theories on the subject...
        Last week I was cleaning up in my kitchen and I loaded my dishwasher to do a load, but in so doing, I forgot to run my Garbage disposal first, before running my dish load..so instead of draining the dirty water out during the rinse and drain cycle, it left standing water in the dishwasher because the disposal was blocked by debrie! I went to open the dishwasher, and I noticed water draining steadily from the bottom side of the dishwasher door! I grabbed a large bath towel and hung it over my little 2 step kitchen stool, in case I could not get to my mop, and then I went after my mop. When I returned a few minutes later with the most absorbant one I could find for the job, I found no pooling water left,  instead of a expanding pool of water, I found that my dry bath towel, that had been drapped across the step stool, had the bottom edge against the wet floor, but I noticed, that most of my water, even that, that had pooled down my slope kitchen floor a couple feet away, had become wicked up into the bath towel without laying the whole towel down on the floor... The water had wicked its way well over halfway up the towel...and I remembered thinking about this action being a form of Capillary action itself...It is isn't,  and if I am mistaken, I would love someone more knowledgeable to correct me, or expand on it further for me...?
      While I am at..could you move your thread to perhaps the physics or science section, rather then here in the chat..It's a very good question and would get more legitimate views in the appropriate section...and would help us keep the chat section chat...and more on the lighter social side of the forum...
   Thank you Project Sailor.... Karen W.

Title: Re: Capilliary action - how does it seemingly get energy from nowhere?
Post by: Karen W. on 29/10/2015 16:05:21

COOL VIDEO..I am sorry I did not see your video until now....I thought it was only a photo..but when I scrolled up to make sure my post posted properly,..I noticed the video arrow... I am sorry it made part of my post unneeded.....lol...ok.. so the helium experiment was very interesting..1930..so that was 30 years post Einstein, which makes me curious as to how close he was in his theories and  ideas of capillary action in 1901 compared to those scientists of the 1930's,  and then even to our modern scientific theory now in 2015?