Prev. Article Next Article Table of Contents

Demo

Surface Tension Gradients Induced by Temperature: The Thermal Marangoni Effect

Citing Articles

Your current credentials do not allow retrieval of the full text.

Purchase the full-text

PDF/HTML,
figures/images,
references and tables,
(where available)

Marcos Gugliotti , Mauricio S. Baptista and Mario J. Politi

Instituto de Quimica, Universidade de São Paulo, CEP: 05508-900 São Paulo, Brazil

Todd P. Silverstein

Department of Chemistry, Willamette University, Salem, OR 97301-3922

Carl D. Slater

Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824

J. Chem. Educ., 2004, 81 (6), p 824

DOI: 10.1021/ed081p824

Publication Date (Web): June 1, 2004

Section:

History, Education, and Documentation

Abstract

This article presents a simple experiment to demonstrate the motion of liquids induced by surface tension gradients generated by local heating. Changes in temperature are produced by bringing a heat source (soldering iron) close to a thin liquid film in a Petri dish, where the motions are easily observable owing to the rupture of the film. The experiment is easy to perform, and the visualization of the effect can facilitate the introduction of surface tension gradients. The use of other heat sources and some of the possible variations of this experiment are also mentioned.

Find this demonstration and others in the DigiDemos area of the JCE Digital Library.

Keywords (Audience):

High School / Introductory Chemistry

Keywords (Domain):

Demonstrations

Keywords (Feature):

JCE DigiDemos: Tested Demonstrations

Keywords (Subject):

Liquids

View: Hi-Res PDF | PDF w/ Links

Citing 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 6 ACS Journal articles (5 most recent appear below).

Marangoni Flowers and the Evil Eye: Overhead Presentations of Marangoni Flow
Donald W. Mundell
Journal of Chemical Education2009 86 (7), 833
- Marangoni Flowers and the Evil Eye: Overhead Presentations of Marangoni Flow
  Donald W. Mundell
  Journal of Chemical Education2009 86 (7), 833
  Intermolecular forces and surface tension gradients in solutions lead to remarkable flows, known as Marangoni flows, where liquid flows from a region of low surface tension towards higher surface tension. Details of these flows, not visible to the naked ...
  Abstract | Hi-Res PDF | PDF w/ Links
Playing with Liquid Foams: Learning Physical Chemistry
Hernán Ritacco
Journal of Chemical Education2008 85 (12), 1667
- Playing with Liquid Foams: Learning Physical Chemistry
  Hernán Ritacco
  Journal of Chemical Education2008 85 (12), 1667
  Who has never played with soap bubbles? They are so beautiful and amazing, they have a perfect spherical shape and surprising tints. Foams are structures of bubbles of an incredible complexity and they are a perfect system to stimulate students' interest ...
  Abstract | Hi-Res PDF | PDF w/ Links
Stilling Waves with Ordered Molecular Monolayers
Ed Vitz , James H. Maynard
Journal of Chemical Education2008 85 (8), 1064
- Stilling Waves with Ordered Molecular Monolayers
  Ed Vitz , James H. Maynard
  Journal of Chemical Education2008 85 (8), 1064
  A demonstration of the damping effect of an oil monolayer on water waves is described. The history of this remarkable demonstration—with a 2000 (or more) year span—and a brief explanation in terms of the properties of water and the monolayer are ...
  Abstract | Hi-Res PDF | PDF w/ Links
Dancing Crystals: A Dramatic Illustration of Intermolecular Forces
Donald W. Mundell , James H. Maynard
Journal of Chemical Education2007 84 (11), 1773
- Dancing Crystals: A Dramatic Illustration of Intermolecular Forces
  Donald W. Mundell , James H. Maynard
  Journal of Chemical Education2007 84 (11), 1773
  Crystals of naphthalene form on the surface of an acetone solution and dance about in an animated fashion illustrating surface tension, crystallization, and intermolecular forces. Additional experiments reveal the properties of the solution. Flows within ...
  Abstract | Hi-Res PDF | PDF w/ Links
Some Observations of Ben Franklin Related to the Stilling of Waves by Oil
Marcos Gugliotti
Journal of Chemical Education2007 84 (6), 941
- Some Observations of Ben Franklin Related to the Stilling of Waves by Oil
  Marcos Gugliotti
  Journal of Chemical Education2007 84 (6), 941
  While studying the calming effect of oil on water, Benjamin Franklin made other interesting observations and arrived at conclusions related to chemical concepts and phenomena unusual for scientists of that time. A careful analysis of Franklin's article on ...
  Abstract | Hi-Res PDF | PDF w/ Links