Bicol University

College of Engineering
DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL
ENGINEERING
Legazpi City
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL

Differential equation for the rate of capillary action of

water on a single brand tissue paper
Ruivivar, Sylvester S.*
BS Chemical Engineering 3, January13, 2015
ABSTRACT
f

A single brand tissue paper was subjected to an experiment to determine the differential equation of

the rate of capillarity action

dh
dt

of water on the said material. A single ply of Toily 2-ply bathroom

tissue was used as a medium. With three trials, the time and height of water rise were acquired. Each trial
lasted only for an hour. The data were tabulated and graphed separately. The graph for the average of the
three trials and the equation of the curve was then obtained. From the equation of the curve, the differential
equation for the rate of capillary action of water on the said medium (having a width of 100mm) was
formulated and was found out to be

dh 1.2518
=
dt
t

, wherein when integrated will have a value for c

1. Introduction

Email address: vesruivivar25@yahoo.com

Capillary action, or capillarity, is the

ability of a liquid to flow in narrow spaces
without the assistance of, and in opposition to,
external forces like gravity. [1] It is defined as
the movement of water within the spaces of a
porous material due to the forces of cohesion,
adhesion, and surface tension. [2]

being ruptured when placed under tension or

stress. [3]

The mutual attractive force that exists

between like molecules of a particular liquid is
called cohesion. This force is responsible for
holding a raindrop together as a single unit.
Cohesion allows for the development of surface
tension, the capacity of a substance to withstand
*Corresponding
+639176406140.

author.

Tel.:

When an attractive force exists between

two unlike materials, such as liquid and a solid
container, the attractive force is known as
adhesion. Adhesion is the force that causes water
to stick to the inside of a glass. If the adhesive
force between the liquid and solid is greater than
the cohesive force within the liquid, the liquid is
said to wet the surface and the surface of the
liquid near the edge of the container will curve
upward. In cases where the cohesive force is
greater than adhesion, the liquid is said to be
non-wetting and the surface will curve
downward near the edge of the container.

2.1 Materials

Fig-1. Non-wet and wet surfaces

The combination of the adhesive forces

and the surface tension that arises from cohesion
produces the characteristic upward curve in a
wetting fluid. Capillarity is the result of
cohesion of water molecules and adhesion of
those molecules to the solid material forming the
void. As the edges of the container are brought
closer together, such as in a very narrow tube,
the interaction of these phenomena causes the
liquid to be drawn upward in the tube. The more
narrow the tube, the greater the rise of the liquid.
Greater surface tension and increased ratio of
adhesion to cohesion also result in greater rise. [4]
A familiar example of capillary action is
the tendency of a dry paper towel to absorb a
liquid by drawing it into the narrow openings
between the fibers. Paper towels are permeable
and porous, meaning that they contain small
spaces that both liquid and air may pass through.
[5]

In the experiment performed, a single

brand bathroom tissue was used as a medium for
capillary action. This experiment aims to obtain
a differential equation for the said mechanism,
the differential of height h (in centimeters) of the
water over the differential of time t (in minutes).

The set up for the experiment used a

meter stick, stopwatch, wooden stick and a glass
container which contains the water. The
bathroom tissue which was used as the medium
for capillary action is of single brand (Toily, 2ply bathroom tissue), measuring 100mm x
100mm. To avoid the effects of the gap between
the 2-ply tissue paper, only a single ply of the
said medium was used.
2.2 Preparation of the Fluid
Water was placed on a shallow glass
container whose mouth is wide enough to
accommodate the tip of the tissue paper. The
fluid on the container was about 5cm in depth.
2.3 Preparation of the Tissue Holder
A wooden stick was attached
perpendicular to the meter stick at 30cm mark.
This will serve as the holder of the tissue paper.
2.4 Procedure
The tissue paper with a length of 30cm
and with of 100mm was hanged on the tissue
holder. It hangs from the 30 cm mark down to
4cm mark on the meter stick. The glass
container which contains the water of about 5cm
in depth was placed under the tip of the tissue
paper. The tip of the bathroom tissue was
submerged on the water (at about 1cm).
2.5 Data Collection
The height (in centimeters) of the water
rise was recorded on a table in a span of an hour
(60 minutes) only. The experiment was done
three times using the same materials and set up.

2. Materials and Methods

2.6 The Set-up

4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
20
25
30
40
50
60

8.6
9.0
9.3
9.5
9.5
9.7
9.9
10.1
10.3
10.5
10.6
10.7
11.0
11.3
11.5
11.5
11.5
11.5

9.0
9.2
9.5
9.9
10
10.2
10.5
10.8
11.0
11.0
11.2
11.3
11.5
11.9
12.3
12.5
12.5
12.5

8.5
8.7
9.0
9.4
9.5
9.5
9.7
9.9
10.0
10.2
10.5
10.5
10.9
11.0
11.2
11.3
11.5
11.5

Fig-2. The Set up

3. Results and Discussion

3.1. Obtaining the Height of Water Rise in a
span of an hour (60 min) to determine the Rate
of Capillarity
The experiment was done three times.
The water on the container has a depth of 5 cm.
The tip of the tissue paper at about 1 cm was
submerged on the water. The rise of the water
on the tissue paper was determined starting from
the 5cm mark.
Table 1 shows the data collected on the
three trials.
Table-1.. Height of Fluid (cm) VS. Time
(min). 5cm as the baseline

Time
(minute
s)
0
1
2
3

Height in Centimeter
1st Trial 2nd
3rd
Trial
Trial
5.0
5.0
5.0
7.5
7.5
7.0
8.0
8.0
8.0
8.3
8.5
8.3

For convenience, the actual rise of the

water was tabulated on a zero baseline. This was
shown in Table 2.
Table-2. Height of Fluid (cm) VS. Time
(min). 0cm as the baseline

Time
In
minutes
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

Height in Centimeter
1st
2nd
3rd
Trail
trial
trial
0
0
0
2.5
2.5
2.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.3
3.5
3.3
3.6
4.0
3.5
4.0
4.2
3.7
4.3
4.5
4.0
4.5
4.9
4.4
4.5
5
4.5
4.7
5.2
4.5
4.9
5.5
4.7
5.1
5.8
4.9
5.3
6.0
5.0
5.5
6.0
5.2

14
15
20
25
30
40
50
60

5.6
5.7
6.0
6.3
6.5
6.5
6.5
6.5

6.2
6.3
6.5
6.9
7.3
7.5
7.5
7.5

5.5
5.5
5.9
6.0
6.2
6.3
6.5
6.5

On Table 3, the mean or average of the

three trials was determined and were used to
determine differential equation of the capillarity.
Table-3. Average of the Three Trials

Time
Height in Centimeter
In
1st
2nd
3rd
Ave
minut
Trial
Trial
Trial
es
0
0
0
0
0
1
2.5
2.5
2.0
2.33
2
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.00
3
3.3
3.5
3.3
3.37
4
3.6
4.0
3.5
3.70
5
4.0
4.2
3.7
3.97
6
4.3
4.5
4.0
4.27
7
4.5
4.9
4.4
4.60
8
4.5
5
4.5
4.67
9
4.7
5.2
4.5
4.80
10
4.9
5.5
4.7
5.03
11
5.1
5.8
4.9
5.27
12
5.3
6.0
5.0
5.43
13
5.5
6.0
5.2
5.57
14
5.6
6.2
5.5
5.77
15
5.7
6.3
5.5
5.83
20
6.0
6.5
5.9
6.13
25
6.3
6.9
6.0
6.40
30
6.5
7.3
6.2
6.67
40
6.5
7.5
6.3
6.77
50
6.5
7.5
6.5
6.83
60
6.5
7.5
6.5
6.83
From the three tables above, it is shown
that the water rise was observed for 15 minutes

in a 1 minute interval. This is because the rise of

water is rapid on the said interval. As time
passes it becomes slow.
3.2 Determination of Rate of Capillarity
The data on the table were graphed
separately to show the behavior of the curve.
The x- axis corresponds for the time t (in
seconds) while the y-axis corresponds to the
height h (in centimeters).
The data do not form consistent curves
so trend lines were used to show logarithmic
relationship between variables.
The rate of capillarity on the first,
second and third trials as well as the average of
the three trials were illustrated on the graphs
below.
f(x) = NaN ln(x)

Trial 1
12
10
8

Height (cm)

6
4
2
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Time (min)

Fig-3. Rate of Capillarity in Trial 1

Fig-5. Rate of Capillarity in Trial 3

f(x) = NaN ln(x)

Trial 2

f(x) = NaN ln(x)

Average

12
12

10

10

Height (cm)

8
Height (cm)

6
4

2
0

10

20

40

Time (min)

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Time (min)

Fig-4. Rate of Capillarity in Trial 2

f(x) = NaN ln(x)

Trial 3
12
10

Fig-6. Average Rate of Capillarity

Using the equation obtained from the

graph which is

y=1.2518 ln(x )+2.1733 (Eq 1)

where y is the height in centimeters and x is the
time in minutes, we compute for height ( given
x=1,2,3) and error to verify whether the
equation is valid.

%error
actual valuecomputed value

(100 )
actual value

8
Height (cm)

30

Fig-7. Formula for Percent Error

The table below shows the new values

of height (H) using equation 1 as well as the
percent error for the obtained values.

2
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Time (min)

Table-4. Percent Error for the Values

(obtained using Eq 1) of H

Time
(min)

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
20
25
30
40
50
60

Height
(cm)
Actual
2.33
3.00
3.37
3.70
3.97
4.27
4.60
4.67
4.80
5.03
5.27
5.43
5.57
5.77
5.83
6.13
6.40
6.67
6.77
6.83
6.83

Height
(cm)
compute
d
2.17
3.04
3.55
3.91
4.19
4.42
4.61
4.77
4.92
5.06
5.17
5.28
5.38
5.48
5.56
5.92
6.20
6.43
6.79
7.07
7.30

dh 1.2518
=
dt
t

%
Fig-8. Differential Equation

Error

To check, we integrate:
6.87
1.33
5.34
5.68
5.54
3.51
0.21
2.34
2.50
0.60
1.90
2.76
3.41
5.03
4.63
3.43
3.13
3.60
0.30
3.51
6.88

From the table above, it can be seen that

the highest % error is 6.88 and the lowest is
0.21. Since the errors are low, we will accept the
equation.

dh=

h=1.2518 ln ( t ) +c
To get the value of c, we assign h= 4.60
at t=7. As shown from Table 4, the new value of
h at t=7 gave the lowest error.

4.60=1.2518 ln ( 7 ) +c
c= 2.1641
Now we have a new equation
for the graph which is :

h=1.2518 ln(t)+2.1641 (Eq. 2)

Using Equation 2, we compute for the
new value of height and the percent error to
determine whether the new equation as well as
the differential equation formulated is valid:
Table-5. Percent Error for the Values
(obtained using Eq 2) of H

3.3 Formulation of Differential Equation

By getting the derivative of the Equation
1 with respect to time, the differential equation
for the capillary action was obained.

y=1.2518 ln( x )+2.1733

h=1.2518 ln (t)+2.1733

1.2518
dt
t

Tim
e
(mi
n)
1
2
3
4
5

Height
(cm)
actual

Height
(cm)
computed

%
Error

2.33
3.00
3.37
3.70
3.97

2.16
3.03
3.54
3.90
4.18

7.29
1
5.04
5.41
5.29

6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
20
25
30
40
50
60

4.27
4.60
4.67
4.80
5.03
5.27
5.43
5.57
5.77
5.83
6.13
6.40
6.67
6.77
6.83
6.83

4.40
4.60
4.77
4.91
5.05
5.17
5.27
5.37
5.47
5.55
5.91
6.19
6.42
6.78
7.06
7.28

3.04
0
2.14
2.29
0.40
1.90
2.95
3.60
5.20
4.80
3.59
3.28
3.75
0.15
3.37
6.59

The new values of the height obtained

using equation 2 yielded low percent errors.
Therefore the new equation is still valid.
The three values (actual, from Eq1,
Eq2), was graphed to visualize their
relationships.
Fig-9. Comparison of Values
Obtained

4. Conclusion
Based from the data above, the
differential equation for the rate of capillary
action of water on a single brand tissue paper
Toily (single ply) with a width of 100
millimeters is:

dh 1.2518
=
dt
t
This equation, when integrated, will
have a value for c which is equal to 2.1641 .
When graphed, it will form a curve.
5. Recommendations

The experiment can also be done to

other brands of tissue papers with variation in
thickness and width. Other liquids can also be
used.
6. Documentation
The following pictures were taken
during the conduct of the experiment.

10/cohesion-and-adhesion-94/surface-tensionand-capillary-action-347-6310/
[2]http://water.usgs.gov/edu/capillaryaction.html
[3] Boundless. Waters Cohesive and Adhesive
Properties. Boundless Biology. Boundless, 03
Jul.2014. retrieved 04 Jan.2015. From
https://www.boundless.com/biology/textbook/bo
undless-biology-textbook/the-chemicalfoundation-of-life-2/water-51/water-s-cohesiveand-adhesive-properties-286-11419/
[4]http://science.jrank.org/pages/1182/CapillaryAction.html
[5]http://www.education.com/sciencefair/article/find-absorbent-brand-paper-towels/
Figures

Acknowledgements
The author is truly grateful to his family
for their moral and financial support, to Engr.
Junel Borbo for sharing his expertise in
differential equations, and to his classmates and
to all those people who helped and shared their
insights for the completion of this journal.
References
[1]https://www.boundless.com/physics/textbook
s/boundless-physics-textbook/fluids-

Fig-1. Non-wet and wet surfaces

Fig-2. The Set-up
Fig-3. Rate of Capillarity in Trial 1
Fig-4. Rate of Capillarity in Trial 2
Fig-5. Rate of Capillarity in Trial 3
Fig-6. Average Rate of Capillarity
Fig-7. Formula for Percent Error
Fig-8. Differential Equation
Fig-9. Comparison of Values Obtained
Tables
Table-1. Height of Fluid (cm) VS. Time (min).
5cm as the baseline
Table-2. Height of Fluid (cm) VS. Time (min).
0cm as the baseline
Table-3. Average of the Three Trials
Table-4. Percent Error for the Values (obtained
using Eq 1) of H
Table-5. Percent Error for the Values (obtained
using Eq 2) of H