Open AccessAn explanation of the so-called intertraction phenomenon between solutions, and the molecular significance of negative surface tension
Author(s) -
N. K. Adam,
G. Jessop
Publication year - 1925
Publication title -
proceedings of the royal society of london. series b, containing papers of a biological character
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2053-9185
pISSN - 0950-1193
DOI - 10.1098/rspb.1925.0032
Subject(s) - phenomenon , surface tension , mixing (physics) , diffusion , nothing , tension (geology) , mechanics , theoretical physics , classical mechanics , physics , thermodynamics , philosophy , quantum mechanics , epistemology , moment (physics)
Sir A. Wright and Schoneboom have observed that when certain solutions are superposed on other solutions, mixing occurs not by simple diffusion but by the development of streamers or “ pseudopodia,” which start from the interface and make their way upwards and downwards through the body of the two solutions. The phenomenon is attributed to a special force, “ intertraction,” which aids the mixing ; and Schoneboom suggests that this is a spontaneous extension of the interface between the solutions, under the influence of the peculiar capillary forces present in this region. Such a force at the interface would be of the greatest importance for the theory of capillarity. But in studying this phenomenon we have observed facts which are wholly out of accord with such an explanation. It seems that surface tension has nothing to do with the phenomenon, and that the two essential factors are the difference in the rates of diffusion of the solutes in the two solutions, and the direction of gravity. Moreover two rather different phenomena are exhibited in different circumstances.