Question

The property utilized in the manufacture of lead shots is:
A. Specific weight of liquid lead
B. Specific gravity of liquid lead
C. Compressibility of liquid lead
D. Surface tension of liquid lead

Answer 1

Hint:Lead shots are made from a shot tower, where lead is molten and dropped through a copper sieve. It forms spherical balls as it falls and gradually solidifies. The cooled balls are caught in a basin with water. We have to identify the property that makes the lead balls spherical.

Complete step by step answer:
During the process of forming spherical balls, the lead droplets tend to shrink into the minimum surface area possible. Hence an attractive force is exerted on the lead molecules and the surface molecules are drawn into the bulk of the liquid and forms a shape with the least surface area.We know that the tendency possessed by a liquid to shrink to the minimum surface area possible is nothing but the surface tension of the liquid. Hence we can say that the property used in the manufacture of lead shots is the surface tension of liquid lead.

Therefore we can conclude that option D is the correct answer among the given options.

Note:Surface tension has a large spectrum of applications in our day to day lives. It is also the reason for many natural phenomena around us, including round bubbles, floating needles and the insects that walk on water. The applications include rainproof tent materials, clinical tests for jaundice, soaps, disinfectants, detergents and so on.