Surface tension converter
Convert surface tension between mN/m and dyn/cm, which happen to be the same number, and see how your liquid compares with water.
That's about the same as pure water. That is about 100% of water’s surface tension.
What it means
How strong is that skin?
Values are against air at 20 °C. Surface tension falls as temperature rises, and collapses when soap is added.
Every unit
Your surface tension in every unit
Learn
Three things worth knowing
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mN/m and dyn/cm are the same number
Water is 72.8 in both. The units differ, the arithmetic cancels, and the figure you read is the figure you use.
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Why soap cleans
Soap molecules crowd the surface and cut tension by two thirds. Water can then wet fabric and creep into fibers instead of beading up.
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Tension is not viscosity
Mercury has enormous surface tension and flows freely; honey has low tension and barely flows. One is about the skin, the other about the insides.
Shortcuts
Popular surface tension conversions
Background
About surface tension
Surface tension is the energy needed to make new surface, in newtons per meter or equivalently joules per square meter. Water is unusually high at 72.8 mN/m, which is why insects walk on ponds and why droplets are round.