A Kinetic Approach to the Calculation of Surface Tension in a Spherical Drop

TL;DR

This paper introduces a kinetic theory approach to calculate surface tension in spherical drops, showing it rapidly approaches an asymptotic value consistent with experimental data, differing from traditional thermodynamic methods.

Contribution

It presents a novel kinetic theory-based method for calculating surface tension, extending the understanding beyond thermodynamic approaches.

Findings

Surface tension approaches an asymptotic value for larger drops.

Theoretical values agree reasonably with experimental data.

Kinetic approach offers an alternative perspective to thermodynamic methods.

Abstract

Surface tension in drops has been investigated mainly from a thermodynamic standpoint, more rarely with kinetic methods. In the present work, this problem is studied in the framework of kinetic theory, starting from Sutherland's approximation for Van Der Waals interaction between molecules. Surface tension is calculated as a function of drop radius: it is found that it approaches swiftly an asymptotic value, for radii of several times the intermolecular distance. This theoretical asymptotic value is compared to experimental values for a few liquids, and is found in reasonable agreement.