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Capillary Rise Calculator

Calculate the height of capillary rise in a tube using Jurin's Law, relevant to soil science, civil engineering, and construction dampness analysis.

Water at 20 degrees C: 0.0728 N/m
For water on glass: approx 0 degrees. For mercury on glass: approx 140 degrees
Water: 1000 kg/m3
Inner radius of the tube or capillary pore
Standard: 9.81 m/s2

Results

Capillary Rise Height0.0,148 m
Capillary Rise (mm)14.84 mm
Capillary Rise (cm)1.484 cm

📖What is it?

Capillary rise describes a liquid's ability to flow upward in a narrow tube or pore against gravity, driven by surface tension. Jurin's Law quantifies this: h = (2 x gamma x cos(theta)) / (rho x g x r), where gamma is surface tension, theta is contact angle, rho is liquid density, g is gravity, and r is tube radius.

🎯How to use

Enter the surface tension, contact angle, liquid density, tube (or pore) radius in millimetres, and local gravity. The calculator returns the theoretical height the liquid will rise.

💡Example scenario

Water (gamma=0.0728 N/m, rho=1000 kg/m3, theta=0) in a 0.1 mm radius glass tube: h = (2 x 0.0728 x 1) / (1000 x 9.81 x 0.0001) = 0.1485 m = 148.5 mm. In a 1 mm radius tube this drops to 14.8 mm.

🏆Pro tip

Capillary rise is inversely proportional to pore radius, so finer pores draw moisture higher. Rising damp in brick walls (pore radii 10-100 micrometers) can reach 1-2 m. Engineers use damp-proof courses (DPCs) to break the capillary path.