Surface-tension values explained

This is a table of surface tension values^[1] for some interfaces at the indicated temperatures. Note that the SI units millinewtons per meter (mN·m⁻¹) are equivalent to the cgs units dynes per centimetre (dyn·cm⁻¹).

Interface	Temperature	γ (mN·m^−1)
Water–air	20 °C	72.86 ± 0.05^[2]
Water–air	21.5 °C	72.75
Water–air	25 °C	71.99±0.05
Methylene iodide–air	20 °C	67.00
Methylene iodide–air	21.5 °C	63.11
Ethylene glycol–air	25 °C	47.3
Ethylene glycol–air	40 °C	46.3
Dimethyl sulfoxide–air	20 °C	43.54
Propylene carbonate–air	20 °C	41.1
Benzene–air	20 °C	28.88
Benzene–air	30 °C	27.56
Toluene–air	20 °C	28.52
Chloroform–air	25 °C	26.67
Propionic acid–air	20 °C	26.69
Butyric acid–air	20 °C	26.51
Carbon tetrachloride–air	25 °C	26.43
Butyl acetate–air	20 °C	25.09
Diethylene glycol–air	20 °C	30.09
Nonane–air	20 °C	22.85
Methanol–air	20 °C	22.50
Ethanol–air	20 °C	22.39
Ethanol–air	30 °C	21.55
Octane–air	20 °C	21.61
Heptane–air	20 °C	20.14
Ether–air	25 °C	20.14
Hexane-air	20 °C	17.9^[3]
Mercury–air	20 °C	486.5
Mercury–air	25 °C	485.5
Mercury–air	30 °C	484.5
NaCl–air	1073 °C	115
KClO3–air	20 °C	81
	20 °C	1.8
	20 °C	6.8
	20 °C	7.0
	20 °C	15.5
Water–transformer oil	20 °C	37.2^[4]
Water–Mercury	20 °C	415
Ethanol–Mercury	20 °C	389
Water–1,2-Dichloroethane	20 °C	30.5 ± 0.3^[5]
	20 °C	38.0 ± 0.5
	20 °C	24.4 ± 0.2
	20 °C	16.0 ± 0.2
	20 °C	2.9 ± 0.1^[6]

External links

More values on

• http://www.surface-tension.de/

Notes and References

1. A. W. Adamson, A. P. Gast.; Physical chemistry of surfaces; 6Ed, Wiley, 1997)
2. Colloids and Surfaces (1990)43,169–194, Pallas, N.R. and Harrison, Y
3. Web site: Surface Tension of Hexane from Dortmund Data Bank. 2020-10-13. ddbst.com.
4. Geoffrey Taylor . 1964 . Disintegration of Water Droplets in an Electric Field . . 280 . 1382 . 383–397 . 10.1098/rspa.1964.0151 . 2415876 . 1964RSPSA.280..383T. 15067908 .
5. Smirnov. Evgeny. Peljo. Pekka. Scanlon. Micheál D.. Gumy. Frederic. Girault. Hubert H.. 2016. Self-healing gold mirrors and filters at liquid–liquid interfaces. Nanoscale. en. 8. 14. 7723–7737. 10.1039/c6nr00371k. 2040-3364. 27001646. 2016Nanos...8.7723S . 10344/8369. free.
6. Smirnov. Evgeny. Peljo. Pekka. Girault. Hubert. Self-assembly and redox induced phase transfer of gold nanoparticles at the water-propylene carbonate interface. Chem. Commun.. 53. 29. 4108–4111. en. 10.1039/c6cc09638g. 28349148. 1364-548X. 2017.