Quote from: mr_bojangles on December 05, 2009, 11:51:24 AM
well the capillary effect occurs due to the surface tension variance of water in thin tubes, so one capillary tube of (x) diameter would raise water (y) amount

given that elongating the tube will not have an effect, as the length of the tube does not dictate the amount of water it can raise, but the diameter of the tube itself

with this in mind i think it logical to use increasingly thinner tubes, staggered in a manner as such that the bottom of each proceeding tube would start at the level where the water stops of the preceding one, basically stacking them

image modified from wikipedia, heres the link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Capillarity.svg

so we would just siphon from the last top capillary tube back down?

yes, i don't know if it will work or not, it was an idea, but capillary tubes have a max height, and the only other way to get it to raise water higher is to make it thinner, similar to how a more porous material will absorb more faster

from that i wondered if we "stacked" them if the water level wouldn't change, or possibly if it would add up and give extra height

The problem with capillary action is that you can indeed raise a liquid in this fashion but you cannot drain it from that elevated height.
Capillary action relies on interatomic forces between the capillary material (glass tube, porous material and such) and the liquid. The same forces that raise the liquid are the ones that are holding it in place. Sort of like a magnet stuck to a wall.

it would be used in combination with the previous set up, this isn't necessarily altering the original idea, just modify it to possibly increase the overall height of the water level

to drain it, the bottom of the first tube could be sealed, and then expose the top to the wick, no pressure variants or anything


like i said i have never tested it nor heard of it, it was just an idea, because like i said before the only way to increase height in a cap tube is to make it thinner, meaning less water, but i just thought it seemed like logically it should be able to be done, getting them to drain is the last step and the easiest

in this application, i wonder if it is possible to use increasingly more porous material to gain distance

Quote from: mr_bojangles on December 05, 2009, 09:37:19 PM
it would be used in combination with the previous set up, this isn't necessarily altering the original idea, just modify it to possibly increase the overall height of the water level

to drain it, the bottom of the first tube could be sealed, and then expose the top to the wick, no pressure variants or anything


like i said i have never tested it nor heard of it, it was just an idea, because like i said before the only way to increase height in a cap tube is to make it thinner, meaning less water, but i just thought it seemed like logically it should be able to be done, getting them to drain is the last step and the easiest

in this application, i wonder if it is possible to use increasingly more porous material to gain distance

are you going to try this out in real life?