Abstract
Young's construction for a contact angle at a three-phase
intersection forms the basis of all fields of science
that involve wetting and capillary action. We find
compelling evidence from recent experimental results on
the deformation of a soft solid at the contact line, and
displacement of an elastic wire immersed in a liquid,
that Young's equation can only be interpreted by surface
energies, and not as a balance of surface tensions. It
follows that the a priori variable in finding equilibrium
is not the position of the contact line, but the contact
angle. This finding provides the explanation for the
pinning of a contact line.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Article number | 135001 |
Journal | Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter |
Volume | 28 |
Issue number | 13 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2016 |
MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
Keywords
- surface tension
- surface energy
- Young's equation
- pinning
- wetting