A new educational approach to surface tension and Young-Laplace law by using computer-based simulations

Abstract

Here we present a pedagogical approach to surface tension phenomena based on a novel mesoscopic fluid model. We show that computer simulations based on this model can provide quantitative results that are consistent with experimental results. We simulate the formation of a two-dimensional liquid droplet without gravity and obtain its surface tension as a result by also verifying Young-Laplace’s law. By controlling some simulation parameters, students can understand step by step how some physical quantities (e.g., the intensity of the interaction between two fluid particles) can affect the behaviour of fluids. This approach will provide students with an explicative model of surface phenomena.