Article
A Surface Chemistry Experiment Using an Inexpensive Contact Angle Goniometer
Purchase the full-text
- PDF/HTML,
figures/images,
references and tables,
(where available)
Abstract
The first part of this work presents the construction of an inexpensive and easy to handle contact angle goniometer. The instrument provides contact angles that are within ±2° of the values obtained by a commercial apparatus and are in good agreement with values reported in the literature. In the second part of this work, the contact angle method is used to measure the critical micelle concentration (cmc) of two common surfactants in aqueous solutions: SDS (sodium dodecylsulfate) and Triton X-100 ([polyoxyethyleneglycol]9-10 p-tert-octyl phenol). The cmc values obtained by the contact angle method are consistent with those reported in literature and also with those obtained by surface tension measurements using a simplified Du Nüoy tensiometer.
Keywords (Audience):
Upper-Division UndergraduateKeywords (Domain):
Physical ChemistryKeywords (Feature):
Cost-Effective TeacherKeywords (Subject):
Laboratory Equipment / ApparatusCiting Articles
Citation data is made available by participants in CrossRef's Cited-by Linking service. For a more comprehensive list of citations to this article, users are encouraged to perform a search in SciFinder.
This article has been cited by 4 ACS Journal articles (4 most recent appear below).

Axisymmetric Liquid Hanging Drops
Tatiana Yu. Latychevskaia , Erich C. MeisterJournal of Chemical Education2006 83 (1), 117Axisymmetric Liquid Hanging Drops
Tatiana Yu. Latychevskaia , Erich C. MeisterJournal of Chemical Education2006 83 (1), 117The 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 ...

Wetting Experiments with a "Web Cam" in an Undergraduate Student Laboratory
Hernán RitaccoJournal of Chemical Education2006 83 (1), 114Wetting Experiments with a "Web Cam" in an Undergraduate Student Laboratory
Hernán RitaccoJournal of Chemical Education2006 83 (1), 114A simple experimental device to study wetting phenomena is presented. A low-cost camera, "Web cam", is used to follow the wetting dynamics of a liquid drop on a solid surface. The dynamics are related to the surface tension and the viscosity of the liquid ...

Double-Diffusive Convection: A Simple Demonstration
Mario Markus , Richard W. SchaefferJournal of Chemical Education2004 81 (4), 526Double-Diffusive Convection: A Simple Demonstration
Mario Markus , Richard W. SchaefferJournal of Chemical Education2004 81 (4), 526Double-diffusive convection can be demonstrated using a cup, a pipet, coffee-whitener, and (optionally) a microscope. At first, cells (0.1–1 mm each) are formed; then, hundreds of needlelike structures become visible to the naked eye. This observation is ...

An Inexpensive and Accurate Tensiometer Using an Electronic Balance
Manuel Dolz , Jesús Delegido , María-Jesús Hernández and Julio PellicerJournal of Chemical Education2001 78 (9), 1257An Inexpensive and Accurate Tensiometer Using an Electronic Balance
Manuel Dolz , Jesús Delegido , María-Jesús Hernández and Julio PellicerJournal of Chemical Education2001 78 (9), 1257A method for measuring surface tension of liquid-air interfaces that consists of a modification of the du Noüy tensiometer is proposed. An electronic balance is used to determine the detachment force with high resolution and the relative displacement ring/...
Tools
-
Add to Favorites
-
Download Citation
-
Email a Colleague -
Permalink
Order Reprints
Rights & Permissions
Citation Alerts
History
- Received: August 03, 2009
Cart

ACS
Network






