AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Capillary action helps bring water up into the roots. But capillary action can only “pull” water up a small distance, after which it cannot overcome gravity. To get water up to all the branches and leaves, the forces of adhesion and cohesion go to work in the plant’s xylem to move water to the furthest leaf.

Detailed explanation-2: -Because water molecules like to stick together (cohesion) and like to stick to the walls of the tubes of cellulose (adhesion), they rise up the tubes all the way from the roots to the leaves. Water then evaporates from the leaves, helping to draw up more water from the roots. This process is called capillary action.

Detailed explanation-3: -Capillary water is the form of water absorbed from the soil via the root system of plants. Capillary water is the groundwater held in the capillary space formed between the soil particles. The water is held in these capillaries due to forces like the surface tension of soil particles and cohesion forces.

Detailed explanation-4: -Transpiration helps another process called capillary action to take place, which is how water moves through a plant. Water molecules are attracted to the molecules of the inside of the stem. It is this attraction which helps force the water up from the ground and around the plant.

Detailed explanation-5: -Capillary water is held in the soil by capillary forces. It is the readily available water to the plants and is the main source of practically all the water absorbed by plants. Gravitational water is not readily available to the plants and penetrates below the level of the roots.