What is the effect of temperature on the surface tension of water?
Practice Questions
1 question
Q1
What is the effect of temperature on the surface tension of water?
Increases with temperature
Decreases with temperature
Remains constant
Varies unpredictably
Surface tension decreases with an increase in temperature due to increased molecular motion.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
1 item
Q
Q: What is the effect of temperature on the surface tension of water?
Solution: Surface tension decreases with an increase in temperature due to increased molecular motion.
Steps: 5
Step 1: Understand what surface tension is. It is the force that makes the surface of water 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 water is heated, the molecules move faster because they gain energy.
Step 4: Recognize that faster-moving molecules can break the bonds that create surface tension more easily.
Step 5: Conclude that as temperature increases, the surface tension of water decreases because the increased molecular motion weakens the cohesive forces at the surface.
