What physical property of water is responsible for its ability to rise in thin tubes in plants?
What physical property of water is responsible for its ability to rise in thin tubes in plants?
Cohesion
Adhesion
Surface Tension
Evaporation
Solution
Surface tension is the property of water that makes it attracted to itself more than to water in the gas phase. This gives water high tensile strength, i.e., an ability to resist a pulling force, and high capillarity, i.e., the ability to rise in thin tubes. In plants, capillarity is aided by the small diameter of the tracheary elements – the tracheids and vessel elements.