Answer :
Final answer:
In a freely falling elevator, the water in a capillary tube would not rise due to weightlessness, and the water would spread evenly along the length of the tube. Calculating the diameter of a capillary tube based on the height of capillary rise requires additional information that is not provided in the question.
Explanation:
The question is asking about the behavior of water in a capillary tube when the entire system is in a state of free fall (such as in a freely falling elevator). Normally, water rises in a capillary tube due to the combined effect of surface tension and the adhesive force between the water and the glass. However, in free fall, all objects within the elevator, including the water in the capillary tube, would experience weightlessness. Consequently, there is no net force to support the capillary action, so the water will not rise. The water levels out along the entire length of the water column in the capillary tube due to the absence of a net gravitational force on it.
For the part of the question about determining the diameter of the capillary tube, we can see from the provided information that the height of the water column was 8.4 cm for a specific capillary tube, which had a diameter of 0.36 mm. The question seems to suggest a similar calculation could be required, but this would usually employ the use of the capillary rise formula, which involves variables such as the surface tension of the water, the angle of contact, the density of the water, and the acceleration due to gravity. However, these variables are not provided, thus preventing an exact calculation within the context of this response.
