Figure 3 shows the line of contact where three phases meet. In equilibrium, the net force per unit length acting along the boundary line between the three phases must be zero. The components of net force in the direction along each of the interfaces are given by:
where α, β, and θ are the angles shown and γ is the surface energy between the two indicated phases. These relations can also be expressed by an analog to a triangle known as Neumanns triangle, shown in Figure 4. Neumanns triangle is consistent with the geometrical restriction that , and applying the law of sines and law of cosines to it produce relations that describe how the interfacial angles depend on the ratios of surface energies.
Because these three surface energies form the sides of a triangle, they are constrained by the triangle inequalities, γ  + γ meaning that not one of the surface tensions can exceed the sum of the other two. If three fluids with surface energies that do not follow these inequalities are brought into contact, no equilibrium configuration consistent with Figure 3 will exist.