plz help
If you carefully place a steel razor blade flat on the surface of water, the razor blade can be made to float. Explain this result, given that the density of steel is much greater than that of water.
I'm not really sure what the answer is. I think it has something to do with either the way water responds to silicon oxide as with capillary action resulting in a meniscus or maybe it has to do with hydrogen bonds. Am I anywhere near the answer?
Read about surface tension, and how it is caused in water by hydrogen bonds.
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/surten.html
Is it like the:
Floating a needle
If carefully placed on the surface, a small needle can be made to float on the surface of water even though it is several times as dense as water. If the surface is agitated to break up the surface tension, the needle will quickly sink.
I still don't quite understand, though, what it is that the needle and steel particularly have that makes them float.
You miss the point. The surface tension of the water presents a surface that is not easily broken and it's that surface on which the needle floats. In a sense, the surface is like a board, but of course not nearly as strong as a board. If the water is stirred, the "board" is broken up and the needle has nothing to keep it afloat so it sinks.
So surface tension makes the surface strong, in a way?
Yes, that's correct! Surface tension is a property of liquids, including water, that arises from the cohesive forces between the liquid molecules. It is caused by the attraction between the molecules at the surface of the liquid, which creates a "skin-like" layer on the surface. This layer acts like a stretched elastic sheet, providing some resistance to objects trying to penetrate or break the surface.
In the case of the steel razor blade or needle floating on water, the surface tension of the water creates a "platform" that supports the object. Although steel is denser than water and would normally sink, the surface tension balances the weight of the object, allowing it to float.
However, it's important to note that the floating is delicate and can easily be disrupted. If the surface tension is broken, for example by stirring or agitating the water, the object will no longer be supported and will sink.
So, in summary, it is the strong surface tension of the water that enables objects like the steel razor blade or needle to float, even though their density is higher than that of water.