Capillary action

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Capillary action means either of two things:

1) When liquid moves through thin tubes
2) When liquid moves through something that is full of little holes (like a sponge)

Capillary action is a result of the surface tension of liquids.

One example of capillary action is that inside a drinking straw left in a cup of water. What holds the water together and to the straw is a little stronger than gravity, so the water will rise inside the straw a little higher than the rest of the water.

Another example is putting a sponge in a puddle of water. The little bubbles in the sponge work like a bunch of little straws all stuck together. When you dip the sponge in water, the water goes a little bit into the holes, and then the bubbles that are inside the sponge can pull on the water that they touch.

Capillary action also takes place inside the human body. For example, it is needed to remove tears from the eyes.

Other pages[change | change source]

some examples of Capillary action- 1.A towel drying you off after a shower 2. A paper towel absorbing a mess 3.water climbing up a piece of wood sitting on a damp surface 4.If you placed a towel in a tub of water, with one end of the towel in the tub and the other end of the towel outside the tub, the water will travel up the towel and out into the floor due to capillary action.