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Explain the difference in the shape of the drops of mercury and water when placed on a clean glass surface

Explain the difference in the shape of the drops of mercury and water when placed on a clean glass surface.

Answers

Evalyne
Water droplets form a spherical shape. This is due to the theory of surface tension. The cohesive forces in the liquid molecules results in the molecules being pulled downward by the adjacent molecules hence the spherical shape.
Mercury on the other hand has a higher surface tension than water. There are potentially two forces acting on the drop of mercury. The cohesive forces which attract the molecules towards each other forming a spherical shape and gravitational forces which tend to flatten out the droplet. Therefore, for small drops of mercury, the surface tension forces predominate and for large drops the gravitational forces prevail.
nyakio_evalyne answered the question on August 27, 2018 at 10:43

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