title: The Drop Volume Method for Interfacial Tension Determination: An Error Analysis.
abstract: An error analysis of the drop volume method of determination of surface or interfacial tension is presented. It is shown that the presence of the empirical correction term may lead to either a decrease or an increase in the final uncertainty of the calculated tension. Recommendations to maximize the precision of measurement are made. It is further shown that the systematic error due to the correction term is less than 0.04%; under the conditions recommended to minimize the statistical uncertainty, the systematic error should be less than half this figure. Tabulations of recommended values of the correction function are given.
authors.affiliation: The Department of Pure and Applied Physics, The Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast, BT7 1NN, Northern Ireland
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Earnshaw
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Carroll
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Doyle