Name: Kate A Shuchter
We are teachers in Colorado planning to work with fluid transport and
capillary action in vascular plants. According to our memories, at 33 feet the
forces of capillary action and gravity cancel each other out.
We would like to explore how a 100 foot tree can transport water to its
top. We are looking for factors that would effect long-term transport.
Is fluid pressure from below influential? Is soil type influential?
How about the purity of the water?
It's 32 ft, and that applies to siphoning. Capillary action is different
because it depends upon the surface tension properties of water.
Click here to return to the Biology Archives
Update: June 2012