A 20 cm long capillary tube is dipped in water. The water rises up to 8 cm. If the entire arrangement is put in a freely falling elevator, the length of water column in the capillary tube will be
(a) 8 cm
(b) 6 cm
(c) 10 cm
(d) 20 cm.
The correct answer is (d) 20 cm.
Explanation:
The rise in a capillary tube is given as h = 2S.cosθ/rρg When the entire arrangement is in a freely falling elevator, the effective g = 0. So the water will rise in the capillary up to its full length where at the top the meniscus will be convex upward. The condition is somewhat similar to a case when the length of the tube is smaller than the rise.