Why the meniscus of the most liquids curve downwards while the meniscus of Mercury curves upwards?
1 Answer
Mar 30, 2018
most liquids are more attracted to the beaker whereas mercury molecules are more attracted to itself
Explanation:
It depends on inter-molecular attractions. For most liquid like water it is more attracted to the beaker than itself so it will try to be as close to the beaker as possible a meniscus upward would allow more water molecules to touch the beaker. For Mercury it is more attracted to it self. so when it makes a upwards meniscus it maximize the number of mercury molecules touching another mercury molecule.
