Surface Tension Converter

About This Tool

This Surface Tension Converter is a tool used in chemistry, biology, and material science. It converts units of surface tension (γ), which is the tendency of liquid surfaces to shrink into the minimum surface area possible. It is a measure of the cohesive energy present at the interface of a liquid. The base unit is newtons per meter (N/m).

Surface tension is what allows insects to walk on water, causes liquids to form spherical droplets, and governs how liquids will behave in contact with other surfaces (wetting). It is a critical property in the formulation of detergents, paints, and in processes like soldering.

Tips & Features

• Two Perspectives: Surface tension can be thought of in two ways: as a force per unit length (newtons per meter) or as energy per unit area (joules per square meter). These two are dimensionally equivalent (1 N/m = 1 J/m²).
• Dynes per Centimeter: In the CGS system, the common unit is dynes per centimeter (dyn/cm). Conveniently, 1 dyn/cm is equal to 1 mN/m (millinewton per meter), and these are the most common units found in literature.
• Water as a Reference: The surface tension of pure water at room temperature is about 72 dyn/cm or 72 mN/m, a relatively high value due to strong hydrogen bonding between water molecules.