High School

What would happen to the height of the water in the capillary tube if the sucrose concentration was increased?

Answer :

Increasing sucrose concentration can affect the density and surface tension of the solution. As density increases, the height of water in a capillary tube may decrease, since the height of liquid rise is inversely proportional to liquid density.

The student is asking about the effect of sucrose concentration on the height of water in a capillary tube. Based on the principles of capillary action, the height (h) to which a liquid rises in a capillary tube is influenced by the equation h = 2y*cos(a)/(p*g*r), where y is the surface tension of the liquid, a is the contact angle, p is the density of the liquid, g is acceleration due to gravity, and r is the radius of the capillary tube. Increasing the sucrose concentration would alter the density and potentially the surface tension of the solution. A higher sucrose concentration typically leads to a higher density; thus, the height of the liquid rise might decrease since height is inversely proportional to the density of the liquid according to the capillary rise equation.