WETTING IN A CORNER AND RELATED QUESTIONS

The Gibbs-Thomson condition fixes the curvature of a liquid droplet in equilibrium with its undercooled vapor. At temperatures higher than coexistence, this gives a formally negative curvature. This can represent physically a small amount of liquid standing in convex solid corners. For an assembly of solid spheres, the same phenomenon creates liquid bridges connecting touching spheres, ensuring the cohesiveness of the assembly by attracting capillary forces. However, very close to liquid-vapor coexistence, these liquid bridges can merge and draw a continuous liquid layer through the assembly, increasing its electric conductivity and decreasing its cohesiveness.