cohesion

(noun)

Various intermolecular forces that hold solids and liquids together.

Related Terms

  • wettability
  • adhesion

Examples of cohesion in the following topics:

  • Surface Tension

    • The tendency of the surface of a liquid to resist a force and behave like a membrane and is a result of cohesion between liquid molecules.
    • This effect is a result of cohesion of the molecules of the liquid causing the surface of the liquid to contract to the smallest area possible.
    • The contact angle is measured in the liquid and depends on the relative strength of cohesive forces in the liquid and adhesive forces between the liquid and interface materials.
    • If the cohesive forces are greater than the adhesive forces, the resulting contact angles will be large and will form a more circular drop .
    • When a water droplet forms on a leaf, the cohesive forces between the water molecules are greater than the adhesive forces between the water and leaf surface.
  • Surface Tension and Capillary Action

    • Attractive forces between molecules of the same type are called cohesive forces.
    • Liquids can, for example, be kept in open containers because cohesive forces hold the molecules together.
    • In this section we examine effects of cohesive and adhesive forces in liquids.
    • This property is caused by cohesion of similar molecules and is responsible for many of the behaviors of liquids.
    • The cohesive forces among liquid molecules are responsible for the phenomenon of surface tension, as shown in .
  • Latent Heat

    • Energy is required to melt a solid because the cohesive bonds between the molecules in the solid must be broken apart so that the molecules can move around at comparable kinetic energies; thus, there is no rise in temperature.
    • Work is done by cohesive forces when molecules are brought together.
  • Molecular Transport Phenomena

    • For example, temperature and cohesive and adhesive forces all affect values of D.
Subjects
  • Accounting
  • Algebra
  • Art History
  • Biology
  • Business
  • Calculus
  • Chemistry
  • Communications
  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • Microbiology
  • Physics
  • Physiology
  • Political Science
  • Psychology
  • Sociology
  • Statistics
  • U.S. History
  • World History
  • Writing

Except where noted, content and user contributions on this site are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 with attribution required.