Surface Tension and Coitus - Essay

Disclaimer: explicit content in a literary perspective ahead.

Surface tension - Essay

There are many things, which happen in the universe, other than you. Yes, you! the selfish egoic humble proud subjective isolated consciousness which is reading this now (you are allowed to add or subtract adjectives as much as necessary, but what matters is the core, the bare consciousness stripped out of adjectives).

How about surface tension? This little force which is negligible when compared with the human scale that we try to measure things, is one of the core reasons, life exist. Including animals, plants and gigantic Armadillos of east Andes. In 7th grade you may have learned about how surface tension works, to keep a water droplet in a round shape, and soap bubbles to become spherical. There are thousands more examples where surface tension works. If you have forgotten middle grade science on your way to PHD, following is a handy list.

Poem on Surface tension

Due to surface tension

1. Insects can walk on water

2. Small objects like needles can float on water

3. Water rises through plant stems (capillary action)

4. Meniscus forms in containers and test tubes

5. Raindrops stay together

6. Lung alveoli are affected by surface tension

7. Ink flows through fountain pens and markers

8. Formation of foam and froth

9. Water can move through tiny pores in soil and paper towels

Coitus

I was discussing the act of coitus with one of the friends of mine, in thorough detail as it happened. And having a degree related to biology, the aftermath of this lustful human act was replaying in my mind in a remarkable detail. I couldn't ignore the fact that I am imagining gigantic human sperms swimming in a sea of seminal fluid enriched by fructose and salt, in a confounded space of fornix of a vagina (top part of a female reproductive tract). Now, that is all what a man can achieve, except the little bit of euphoria having succeeded doing that, his role is over. While anticlimax is wearing him down, the sperm, with half of genetic material required to clone life, would struggle to reach the ovum to unite with other half, unless they have the help of the negligible force of surface tension secretly guiding them towards its target ahead of their swim. (for your reference I have calculated how much it has to travel in human scale, which is 60-80km in distance, by foot, you can see the reference to the calculation at the foot notes)

Surface tension as a reason for existence.

When we refer to the above list, we can see coitus is not the only action, that our existence also depends on surface tension. Plants exist due to capillary action, our lungs, do not collapse due to surface tension, and every cubic millimeter of our body, depends on surface tension for transport of essential nutrients. The fascinating fact is not the science itself. It is about how we can translate this information to tangible human form in everyday life, if just we remembered at right time. So, what is the right time to remember Surface tension?

Scenario 1. - When things go wrong blame surface tension.

When your boss blames you for no reason, you can ventilate your anger on the surface tension which worked extra after an episode of coitus which happened approximately nine months before his/her birthday, this way you are not targeting some human but interconnectedness of nature. Same is the reason for stupid oil price hike and market collapse happening each and every time President DJT opens his mouth in front of a microphone.

Scenario 2. - When things go right praise surface tension.

When you are elated, and successful and triumph after hitting a milestone in any aspect of life, you can be grateful to surface tension for doing that. That tiny little force, which makes things move in microscopic distances made it all possible for you to have a consciousness of your own and all the people around you who share love and happiness with you. It is not a crazy thing to do; it is a rational thing to do :)

Armadillo

So, what would you blame or praise surface tension for?

-end Surface tension essay- Foot Note on calculations.

A human sperm cell is about 50 micrometers long (0.05 mm), making it extremely small and invisible to the naked eye. However, to reach the ovum, it must travel a much longer distance through the female reproductive tract, typically around 15–20 cm. When compared directly, the sperm travels a distance roughly 3,000 times its own length. To understand this in human-scale terms, if a sperm were enlarged to the size of a 2-meter-tall person, its journey would be equivalent to traveling about 60–80 kilometers. This shows how remarkably large and challenging the journey is relative to the sperm’s tiny size.