Title: surface tension
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - surface tension
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.S06192
Status: current
Index: quantity

Definition
Work required to increase a surface area divided by that area. When two phases are studied it is often called interfacial tension.

Related Term
- interfacial tension: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/I03088

Sources
- Green Book, 2nd ed., p. 12 (https://goldbook.iupac.org/files/pdf/green_book_2ed.pdf)
- PAC, 1996, 68, 957. 'Glossary of terms in quantities and units in Clinical Chemistry (IUPAC-IFCC Recommendations 1996)' on page 995 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac199668040957)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/S06192/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/S06192/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/S06192/xml

Citation: Citation: 'surface tension' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.S06192
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Accessed: 2026-04-19T05:01:33+00:00