Surface tension effects of surface tension can be seen with ordinary water: Surface tension is visible in other common phenomena, especially when surfactants are used to decrease it: Surface tension, represented by the symbol "γ" (alternatively "σ" or "T"), is measured in force per unit length. Its SI unit is newton per meter but the cgs unit of dyne per centimeter is also used. For example, Surface tension can be defined in terms of force or energy. In terms of force: surface tension of a liquid is the force per unit length. In the illustration on the right, the rectangular frame, composed
Drop (liquid) The surface tension of the liquid causes the liquid to hang from the tube, forming a pendant. When the drop exceeds a certain size it is no longer stable and detaches itself. The falling liquid is also a drop held together by surface tension. Some substances that appear to be solid, can be shown to instead be extremely viscous liquids, because they form drops and display droplet behavior. In the famous pitch drop experiments, pitch - a substance somewhat like solid bitumen - is shown to be a liquid in this way. Pitch in a funnel slowly forms droplets, each