Young's equation revisited

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...

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Veröffentlicht in:Journal of physics. Condensed matter 2016-04, Vol.28 (13), p.135001-135001
1. Verfasser: Makkonen, Lasse
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung: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.
ISSN:0953-8984
1361-648X
DOI:10.1088/0953-8984/28/13/135001