Question
Mercury has an angle of contact equal to 140° with soda lime glass. A narrow tube of radius 1.00 mm made of this glass is dipped in a trough containing mercury. By what amount does the mercury dip down in the tube relative to the liquid surface outside? Surface tension of mercury at the temperature of the experiment is 0.465 N m–1. Density of mercury = 13.6 × 103 kg m–3.
Solution
Given,
Angle of contact between mercury and soda lime glass, θ = 140°
Radius of the narrow tube, r = 1 mm = 1 × 10–3 m
Surface tension of mercury at the given temperature, s = 0.465 N m–1
Density of mercury, ρ =13.6 × 103 kg/m3
Dip in the height of mercury = h
Acceleration due to gravity, g = 9.8 m/s2
Relation between surface tension, angle of contact and dip in height is given by, 
