Question

What is responsible for capillary action, a property of liquids?

a. surface tension
b. cohesive forces
c. adhesive forces
d. viscosity
e. two of these choices are correct.?

Answer 1

Capillary action is caused by the combined effect of cohesive and adhesive forces, where the latter must be stronger than the former for the liquid to rise in the capillary tube. So the correct option is e.

Step-by-step explanation:

Capillary action is responsible for the movement of liquid within narrow spaces without the assistance of external forces, and it is a characteristic property of liquids. This phenomenon occurs due to both cohesive forces and adhesive forces. Cohesive forces are the intermolecular forces that hold a liquid together, whereas adhesive forces are the attractive forces between a liquid and the surface of the capillary. When a liquid is introduced to a capillary tube, these forces work against each other. If the adhesive forces between the liquid and the tube's material are stronger than the cohesive forces within the liquid, the liquid will rise in the tube. This is commonly observed with water in a glass capillary due to the strong adhesion between water molecules and the charged glass surface.

Therefore, the answer to the question, What is responsible for capillary action, a property of liquids? is e. Two of these choices are correct, as it is the combined effect of cohesive and adhesive forces that results in capillary action.

Answer 2

e. two of these choices are correct (b) cohesive and c) adhesive)

Step-by-step explanation:

Capillary action is essentially the rise of liquids through a narrow tube (region) called as a capillary. There are several forces that come into play in the context of capillary action.

If we consider a liquid like for example, water, then the cohesive forces are responsible for holding the water molecules together (intermolecular attractive force) while the adhesive forces acts between the water molecule and the walls of the capillary (force of attraction between unlike molecules). Surface tension can be defined as the energy required to increase the surface area of a liquid due to the cohesive forces. When adhesive forces become greater than the cohesive forces, the liquid tends to rise up a narrow tube . Thus, both adhesive and cohesive forces are responsible for capillary action.