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⌬ P⫽ P in⫺ P out⫽2 ␥ 冉 1
⫹
r1 r2
1
冊 , 共4兲
which is the well-known Young–Laplace equation for the Fig. 1. Experimental setup for measuring the surface tension of a soap
pressure difference between the gas inside and outside of a solution. The precision manometer measures the pressure difference be-
spherical bubble. For large enough bubbles, the inner and tween the inside and the outside of a bubble formed at the end of a tube by
outer radii are practically equal and Eq. 共4兲 can be written as insufflating air with the syringe.
920 Am. J. Phys. 69 共8兲, August 2001 http://ojps.aip.org/ajp/ © 2001 American Association of Physics Teachers 920
soap solution is not the same thickness as the tube wall, it is
reasonable to use Eq. 共5兲 with r given by an average radius
r ave⫽(r in⫹r out)/2, where r in and r out are the inner and outer
radii of the tube, respectively. Once the maximum pressure
difference is reached, if we continue the insufflating process
共now more quickly兲 the diameter of the bubble increases
while the pressure inside the bubble decreases. Finally, when
the air contained in the syringe is totally insufflated one ob-
tains a bubble with known radius, given by r ref
⫽(3V 0 /4 ) 1/3, V 0 being the initial volume of the air in the
syringe 共in this case V 0 ⫽20 cm3兲. The state of this bubble is
taken as a reference state for which the pressure difference
⌬ P ref is given by Eq. 共5兲 with r⫽r ref . The selection of this
state, instead of the initial one, as a reference state allows us
to avoid pitfalls due to possible pressure changes in the ini- Fig. 2. Plot of ⌬ P * vs 4/r * . Soap solution A 共circles兲 and soap solution B
tial state because of capillarity effects in the tube. 共squares兲.
The difference between the maximum pressure difference
and the pressure difference in the reference state is given by
4␥
⌬ P * ⬅⌬ P max⫺⌬ P ref⫽ , 共6兲 final 共after insufflating air兲 points. We find ⌬V⬃0.02 cm3,
r*
where 1/r * ⬅1/r ave⫺1/r ref . This procedure is repeated for which is negligible compared to V 0 when calculating r ref .
The experimental results are shown in Table I.
several tubes with different diameters. Plotting ⌬ P * vs 4/r * ,
Values of ⌬ P * vs 4/r * are plotted in Fig. 2 for both soap
a straight line should be obtained, where the slope is given
by ␥. solutions. Both sets of values of ⌬ P * were fitted by linear
regression. The values of ␥ obtained from the slope of each
IV. RESULTS AND SUMMARY linear regression are, with their standard errors, ␥ A ⫽0.0214
⫾0.0018 N/m and ␥ B ⫽0.0245⫾0.0018 N/m. A typical value
We have obtained the surface tensions of two different of ␥ reported in the pedagogical literature5 for aqueous soap
aqueous soap solutions made from two different kinds of solutions is ␥ ⫽0.0250 N/m.
soap: one with a liquid dishwasher soap 共soap A兲 and the In summary, a simple and accurate method for obtaining
other with a liquid toilet soap 共soap B兲. Both soap solutions the surface tension of a soap solution is proposed that uses
were made with a concentration of 10% by volume, and the the Young–Laplace equation for spherical bubbles. The
experiment was done at constant temperature T⫽19.5 method consists in forming a bubble at the end of a tube with
⫾0.1 °C and atmospheric pressure P a ⫽920 mbar. We have the help of a syringe and then measuring the pressure differ-
used five metallic tubes obtained from an old telescoping ence 共of the air inside the bubble兲 between the maximum
radio antenna, each with different inner and outer diameters pressure state, corresponding to a bubble size with radius
measured by a caliper to an uncertainty of ⫾0.005 cm. The equal to the average of the inner and outer radii of the tube,
initial volume in the syringe was V 0 ⫽20⫾0.1 cm3, so that and a reference state, corresponding to a bubble size with a
r ref⫽1.684⫾0.003 cm. It is worth noting that the final bub- volume equal to that of the air initially contained in the sy-
ble volume is not exactly V 0 but V 0 ⫺⌬V, where ⌬V is the ringe.
change in the volume above the manometer reservoir when
the liquid level changes due to a pressure change. ⌬V can be
determined from the radius 共⬃0.1 cm兲 of the inclined tube of ACKNOWLEDGMENT
the manometer and the difference between the lengths of the This work was supported by the Comisión Interministerial
manometric liquid at the initial 共before insufflating air兲 and de Ciencia y Tecnologı́a 共CICYT兲 of Spain under Grant No.
PB 98-0261.
Table I. Experimental data values obtained using Eq. 共6兲 for two soap so-
lutions, A and B. The volume of total insufflated air was in both cases V 0 1
A. W. Adamson, Physical Chemistry of Surfaces 共Wiley-Interscience, New
⫽20.0⫾0.1 cm3. The inner and outer radii of the tube where the bubble was
York, 1990兲, 5th ed., pp. 4 – 45.
formed are denoted as r in and r out . 2
F. W. Sears and M. W. Zemansky, Physics 共Addison–Wesley, Reading,
MA, 1964兲, 3rd ed., Chap. 13.
r in 共cm兲 r out 共cm兲 ⌬ P A* 共Pa兲 ⌬ P B* 共Pa兲 3
J. Pellicer, J. A. Manzanares, and S. Mafé, ‘‘The physical description of
0.160 0.180 47⫾1 55⫾1 elementary surface phenomena: Thermodynamics versus mechanics,’’ Am.
0.200 0.220 37⫾1 42⫾1 J. Phys. 63, 542–547 共1995兲.
4
The precision liquid manometer used in this experiment is produced by
0.225 0.245 33⫾1 38⫾1
PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH 共D-37070 Göttingen, Germany兲, model
0.280 0.300 25⫾1 30⫾1
03091.00.
0.385 0.405 17⫾1 20⫾1 5
Reference 2, Table 13.1.
921 Am. J. Phys., Vol. 69, No. 8, August 2001 Apparatus and Demonstration Notes 921