What is Surface Tension? | Richard Hammond's Invisible Worlds | Earth Science

How do water striders walk on water? It has to do with the elastic property of the water surface, a phenomenon called surface tension.
Subscribe: bit.ly/SubscribeToEarthLab
Best of Earth Science: bit.ly/EarthLabOriginals
Best of BBC Earth: bit.ly/TheBestOfBBCEarthVideos
The Doctors Are In The House: bit.ly/TheDoctorsAreInTheHouse
Richard Hammond's Invisible Worlds Ep 1 'Speed Limits': the extraordinary things happening in a few milliseconds, that completely pass us by.
Welcome to BBC Earth Science! Here we answer all your curious questions about science in the world around you (and further afield too). If there’s a question you have that we haven’t yet answered let us know in the comments on any of our videos and it could be answered by one of our Earth Science experts.

[@peep2268]

Well Imma just answer the actual question in the title of the video that was left partially unanswered: Cohesive forces between the water molecules create a downward force on the molecules at the surface because of the absence of water molecules above them which creates this "elastic film"

[@user-hq9oq5nl3w]

Thank u

[@ammugiri5363]

🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@outerrealm]

So you're a genius but you use "words" like imma. What is that, too lazy to actually write out in proper english "I'm going to"? I bet you aks a lot of questions too. Aight? Or maybe you're trying your hand at humor. K? Yeah kids are too lazy to write OK even. I'm being sarcastic and not malicious, it sounds very contrived to mix juvenile slang in with science. In my 64 years I've used and then abandoned the slang vernacular of my generation, having found that speaking clear concise proper English is your resume wherever you go, it earns respect. I have never used "LOL" in a sentence, nor do I use the word awesome because its misuse and overuse have drained it of its meaning. Awe inspiring is the phrase I use, when something truly is. Cheers

[@ardoinjc]

@@outerrealm He's got a Ph.D in Google Search Alotomy. hahaha

[@angelinam533]

@@outerrealm angry much? The man just answered your question. Stop being a big ass baby

[@laharl2k]

Interesting but you didnt answer the question of what is surface tension......

[@jod125]

He did, he said it's like an elastic film on the tom of the water. He didn't explain it, no, but he did tell you what it is.

[@Pontif11]

The video doesn't go in depth because it couldn't break the surface tension.

[@ksrinivas1729]

Yes

[@laharl2k]

@@jod125 its not even an "elastic film", it is the result the molecular forces and the fact that water molecules can separate and reconbine easily between themselves but not with the air molecules. Its the same reason of why things can float on interface layers between non mixable or different density fluids

[@FRANKwoooo]

Oxygen and hydrogen atoms have different electronegativities, meaning that a slight polar charge is created between the atoms in H20. This polar charge can interact with neighbouring water molecules forming 'hydrogen bonds', and lots of these form a sort of lattice across the surface of the water giving it its physical barrier characteristic.

[@5c1t4l3]

Not very informative but definitely beautiful.

[@hoola_amigos]

@Auroara Lynch Lynch f off -_-

[@shaulighoshdeb5287]

you are right ,But all beautiful

[@jagadeeshgurana4490]

Sorry to disagree bro. I have been struggling to understand the concept of surface tension by searching all possible Engineering videos(I am an engineer) . Nothing could beat the level of understanding I got from this video. All of a sudden I felt happy and felt like watched a 3hr awesome movie in just 3 minutes. I enjoyed every Milli second of it. ❣️

[@zenithfighter7023]

@@jagadeeshgurana4490 yeah bro me too I am neet aspirant and I easily solve its numerical but can't relate with real life . so nice visual concept ❤️

[@hamidahmed1687]

What! not informative ? Damn Knowledgable

[@gurupraveen5073]

Me : watching video as if there is still an explanation. Video : water strider strides.. Me : 😚😘 Video : * ENDS* Me : 🤔🤔🧐

[@benaam3515]

A very best method of teaching i have ever seen...thank you soo much sir 😊

[@mahmoudmourad4599]

I've watched this over 20 times. Such an amazing video and perfect music.

[@vishwashn933]

You made me realize the world is really made up of beautiful phenomenons.... I practically understood wht is surface tension. Heartly thk u

[@santoshdharme5927]

Most beautiful video I have ever watched *Instant Subscribe*

[@same3564]

didnt say shit about surface tension, but it was interesting tho, thanks for nothing but something

[@opiwaran354]

H2O molecules can can form bonds with each other, but not with air. So that means that if you're a water molecule you can form lots of these intermolecular bonds with your neighbours if you're in the middle of the volume of water you're in, but if you're on the surface, you can only form fewer of these bonds since one of your neighbours is now air which you can't bond to. So you can form fewer bonds if you're on the surface, that is energetically speaking "worse" for the molecule and it doesn't "want" to be there. That means that a volume of water will always seek to minimize its surface area. That is surface tension. That's why water drops are always spherical (more or less), since that shape offers the smallest surface area for a given volume.

[@marisanssummer8882]

@@opiwaran354 thanks

[@TheMrAdhitya]

Nice pfp picture, bro. #TeamIchika

[@sonicworld7904]

This is a great example of surface and a new one so I thank BBC to make us this wonderful and unique videos.👏

[@emansaeed8515]

Thank you so so so much helped me alot to understand my subject 😊

[@zenithfighter7023]

very informative and gives practical vision of surface tension ❤️

[@raajshukla248]

As Sir told us about surface of water resist due to its water molecules resistance force.. drop of milk is pushed back due to this resistance.. perfect example of surface tension 👌👌

[@JF59122]

If water is one of the liquids with the highest value of surface tension then why does it spread more than glue...isn't glue supposed to have greater surface tension?

[@0aashxx69]

@@JF59122 because viscosity of water is less than that of a glue....viscosity means the frictional force which opposes the relative motion between the liquid layer therefore surface tension doesn't depend on viscosity

[@JF59122]

@@0aashxx69 okay...but water still has more surface tension right?

[@0aashxx69]

@@JF59122 Yaa as I said earlier that doesn't depend on the flow of water..again *Surface tension doesn't depend on the flow of a liquid* ... Search about viscosity explanation 👍

[@JF59122]

@@0aashxx69 okay...thank you

[@adityabaldha308]

Thankyou for the information.

[@round5soundsfetchmetheirso827]

Damn, they made Surface Tension from Half-Life into a real thing.

[@Lumbago-box]

Samara you play Roblox, you wouldn't get it.

[@kunalsauravsinha7603]

Hey there! Thankyou very much. It's amazing.

[@sanjana7053]

Simply mindblowing visualization🤯

[@SandeepSingh-rm3pr]

I fall in love ❤️❤️❤️. With this slow Motion.😘😘 Very good knowledge ❤️❤️❤️👍

[@heshamabulimon8515]

Science is just amazing.

[@shashankda1930]

Wow what a beautiful slow motion...Till today i didn't saw any type of slow mo video like this

[@kobedierckx2918]

Amazing and beautiful!

[@sivasairamchitrada5247]

Thnx

[@fanta7308]

this video is really fun

[@tesconstamylo]

You see water attracts it self via making hydrogen bonds so the result is cohesion and eventually surface tension (the thin membrane) That is why water forms droplets and that is why it has this behaviour when it hits a surface. Though in the video they used milk but still the principle is the same. What really changes with milk is the time it takes for the droplet to expand and retract, since the hydrogen bonds/Van Der Wals forces which will from with water, will determine the time it takes and how much of it will be either consumed by water or bounce off

[@satishsolanke2163]

Nice information

[@youssefmohammed6825]

What a great video ❤❤

[@kunshagarwal]

Excellent

[@silkyghosh9045]

Fascinating

[@emjayz1]

Wow that is satisfying and awesome I think it is very educat

[@adityakashyap2981]

Big fan of you bro, kya practically samjhaya hai aapne.....

[@hansanikularatne5287]

Awesome!

[@sheetalpandya6048]

Just amazing

[@ashishsah4259]

Amazing.

[@ET-oq9mg]

beatiful

[@dhruvinplays]

Best example for understanding SURFACE TENSION🤙🤙🤘🤘👌👌🙏🙏 AWSM

[@sajaigeorge6240]

The Respiratory process is also done with surface tension with the help of type 2 surfactant in the process of exhaling and inhaling to keep the alveolus not collapse.

[@lovelylocolad]

What’s the classical piece in the background, please?

[@annisaef324]

I'm amazed thanks

[@waipancholwaingor]

Best video ever

[@Potatomatoo]

Came for the surface tenson stayed for amazing music and camera shots

[@Rohitsingh_16]

Best video of my life as well on KZbin

[@chevvakulasrikanth9260]

Marvelous 👌

[@adityavij667]

So satisfying

[@myspace8819]

This is so therapeutic

[@lokeswary15]

Great animation♾️ Incredible▫️▫️▫️

[@detailedlearning6458]

Best video to understand surface tention Better understood better than my couching classes

[@neraj1578]

Whats the background music . It inspires to study science?

[@chl31]

satisfying!

[@sabarishks6089]

Fentastic sir

[@matthewmorrison4964]

what a great song

[@salomesalomeamos2497]

Thank you sir richard

[@mustafizrahman284]

Nicely demonstrated. Very informative.

[@Sanskruti2004]

What a animation!!! I really wondered!!!

[@elisabethdutrisac4658]

wow that is so cool 😲

[@AmanKumar-hy5ck]

Mind blowing

[@afnankhan182]

Nice

[@shivnandchauhan9764]

Woe 🔥 this is physics way of learning.....

[@RAHULSINGH-os6hp]

This is how complex concepts must be explained.

[@hoola_amigos]

Ermm.. by not explaining it.?? 🤔

[@jayasuriyas2604]

Didn't know Richard Hammond still works for the BBC.

[@myownsite]

The series is from 2010 originally.

[@chattiankamma2717]

Ossum photography sir

[@tassangvlogs1991]

Wow perfect

[@ideepakchoudhary]

Amazing video it was....very informative and conceptual too.

[@9yearsand369]

Just wow

[@aditi3649]

Water works like a stretched membrane Due to the property of water of compressing itself to reduce volume. The downward force on each and every molecule on the water surface creates a tension as it continuously being stretched due to intermolecular forces and also the resultant downward force. This is the reason why little creature could walk on the water without sinking their legs so no buoyancy only surface tension is needed.

[@AJMusicUganda]

its a beautiful one

[@sadhana5609]

its awesome

[@canyonbownes1661]

I wis every class and teacher in the WRLD taught like this with visuals

[@devpetdev]

As the top layer compresses, the water molecules crystallize into the densest packing order. It's essentially a very thin solid with very low sheer strength

[@prasungupta]

Beautiful 🥰

[@ramachandrahansda5308]

Thank you sir, for clearing my doubts..

[@whitehorse3419]

Name of the music ,the first peace , please !

[@unknownm5255]

Super

[@sarthakshrivastava915]

1:16 normally its too fast to be seen....

[@erichbachman7363]

1:22 I also exp bouncing up from the water after jumping into it, but only in slow mo.

[@ayappandevendar775]

Wow.

[@TheRock-zo7zl]

this is wow😘

[@lilBabyBornInCalifornia]

More HAMMONDDDD!!!

[@mayappamechhennavar6418]

What Is The Main Objective To Study The Surface Tension And Its Equation And How It Is Applicable In Practical... If Anybody know Please Let Me Know

[@ayishamohammed4173]

Of all the videos I have watched on surface tension so far , u explained it better

[@Ascii89]

What does 'equivalent of 600mph' mean? I thought it was going 2m/s

[@5c1t4l3]

Probably the initial thrust, then it's slowing down rapidly.

[@fidelcatsro6948]

yeah that sounded odd and didnt make sense.... 600mph = 960kph = 960,000 metres in 1 hour (divided by 3600secs in an hour = 266 metres in a second!!) = UFO technology!

[@IFailFirst]

If the bug were the size of a human, and moved the equivalent number of body lengths in the same time, it would have to be going 600mph. If you have ever seen a small remote control car that says its speed is scale 90mph...meaning if it was a full sized car and moved the same number of "car lengths" in the same amount of time, it would have to be going 90mph. So if the car was a 1/30 scale, it would actually only be going 3mph. 3mph * 30(scale) = 90mph

[@Ascii89]

@@IFailFirst i understand that, but i don't see how relevant, or more impressive it should make the feat sound. Nature doesn't care what size or race you are, speed should be universal regardless of size or scale. It's probably to make it sound more impressive.

[@IFailFirst]

@@Ascii89 I don't know if it is supposed to be impressive that the bug can move that "fast" on water, or that the waters surface tension holds together with something moving that speed on it.

[@aisharyasarkar7043]

Hmmmmm....... Very nice.........

[@khyatipandey3734]

I have no words to express how great this is ❤️❤️❤️

[@dhairyachauhan9757]

Man you really must be facing lack of vocabulary like me:>

[@TheProjectX3]

Anyone remember The Tuxedo movie?

[@avyaktgodlyversions5089]

👌👌👌👌superb

[@othmanalmazrua156]

is that related with Froude number?

[@mtflieutenant7693]

Surface tension is basically one of the best chapters of Half Life 1

[@Lucky_76]

Rj sir ne ye video class me dikhaya tha 🙂

[@Ashish-wo4rs]

What will happen if you use a coloured water droplet approximately with equal properties as the water underneath

[@arunprasanth4044]

🔥

[@cheesypoo2407]

i watched this in science class and she expected us to know what water tension was 😀

[@vaisakhvm1726]

Lovely explantation❤. Read a lot, but now watched surface tension. Thank you :)

[@kesavnag9962]

Hat's off to the photographer

[@pabitrayogi5991]

Damn! 🙏💕

[@jigisha2420]

When surface tension videos are more satisfying than ASMR videos..

[@freeman-kx9ps]

I need music name

[@Arm4g3dd0nX]

Isn't it obvious why Richard Hammond is narrating this? His stature being comparable to a water strider allows him unique insight.

[@Arm4g3dd0nX]

That pitcher he's holding at 1:08 is actually a modified 12 mL test tube.

[@ambarishphysics]

CHECK OUT MY ORIGINAL SOLUTION TO A TRICKY SURFACE TENSION CHALLENGE HERE: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bnirpauFmbqejqc

[@johanfrancis2001]

Omg the music is too good for a superhero movie scene

[@Dxnwashere]

2:19 the milk is like a white orbee

[@Dxnwashere]

The milk is satisfying XD