What is the effect of temperature on the surface tension of a liquid?
Practice Questions
1 question
Q1
What is the effect of temperature on the surface tension of a liquid?
Surface tension increases with temperature
Surface tension decreases with temperature
Surface tension remains constant with temperature
Surface tension is independent of the nature of the liquid
As temperature increases, the kinetic energy of the molecules increases, leading to a decrease in cohesive forces and thus a decrease in surface tension.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
1 item
Q
Q: What is the effect of temperature on the surface tension of a liquid?
Solution: As temperature increases, the kinetic energy of the molecules increases, leading to a decrease in cohesive forces and thus a decrease in surface tension.
Steps: 6
Step 1: Understand what surface tension is. Surface tension is the force that makes the surface of a liquid behave like a stretched elastic sheet.
Step 2: Know that temperature is a measure of how hot or cold something is.
Step 3: Realize that when temperature increases, the molecules in the liquid move faster because they have more energy.
Step 4: Recognize that faster-moving molecules are less likely to stick together tightly, which means the cohesive forces between them decrease.
Step 5: Understand that when cohesive forces decrease, the surface tension of the liquid also decreases.
Step 6: Conclude that as temperature goes up, surface tension goes down.
