In industrial corona and plasma processes, cost-efficient and rapid analytical methods are required for confirming adequate surface functionality on a given substrate. Measuring the surface energy is an indirect method for confirming the presence of surface functional groups without the need for microscopy or spectroscopy, often expensive and demanding tools. Contact angle measurement (goniometry) can be used to find the surface energy of the treated and non-treated surface. Young's relation can be used to find surface energy assuming the simplification of experimental conditions to a three phase equilibrium (i.e. liquid drop applied to flat rigid solid surface in a controlled atmosphere), yielding
where
 denotes the surface energy of the solid–liquid, liquid–gas, or solid–gas interface
 is the measured contact angle
A series of solutions with known surface tension (e.g., Dyne solutions) can be used to estimate the surface energy of the polymer substrate qualitatively by observing the wettability of each. These methods are applicable to macroscopic surface oxidation, as in industrial processing.