A study on Surface Tension Measurement Using Optical Diffraction

TSAI-NING HSU^1*, MEI-YU CHEN¹, KUO-HSUAN CHUNG¹

¹Department of Physics, National Kaohsiung Normal University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

* Presenter:TSAI-NING HSU, email:nancy20020109@gmail.com

This study investigates the impact of signal generators and Arduino on surface tension measurement and aims to create a low-cost, accessible measurement system. Two signal generation methods transmit vibrations to water via enameled wire to create ripples. Ripple wavelength is challenging to measure, so ripples act as a reflective grating for laser light, enabling wavelength calculation. Signal generator and Arduino-generated sine waves were used in experiments to measure surface tension accuracy. Arduino was chosen to enhance equipment mobility. Using signal generator output, surface tension closely matched the theoretical value, while Arduino output had a little error difference but offered lighter equipment. This study successfully replaced the signal generator with Arduino, achieving an affordable and easily fabricated measurement system.

Keywords: wave generator, low-cost, easy to transport