04 cam101

CAM 101 – Optical Contact Angle
and Surface Tension Meter
KSV's CAM 101 is a fully computer controlled instrument based on
capture and automatic analysis of video images for measuring
static or dynamic contact angles, surface free energies, absorption
and surface tension of liquids. It is designed for quality control, as
well as routine applications in industry, education and R&D.

Applications

Key Features

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

• Easy and automatic determination of
surface/interfacial tension, contact
angles, adsorption and surface free
energy
• Automatic baseline detection in CA
measurement
• Static and dynamic measurements

• Complete Curve fitting based on
Young - Laplace equation
• LED based background lighting
• FireWire digital CCD camera
• WindowsTM (98/NT/2000/XP) Compatible
Software
• Runs on both laptop and desktop computers.
• Highly accurate

Surfactants, Soaps & Detergents
Emulsions
Polymers
Pharmaceuticals
Sprays, Paints & Coatings
Paper, Film & Ink products
Cosmetics
Textiles
Food industry
Surface treatments
Cleanliness

www.ksvltd.com


How to measure contact
angle and surface tension
with CAM 101
CAM 101 is an accurate, simple, and easy to use, yet
extremely powerful instrument. CAM 101 uses drop
shape analysis for determining static or dynamic

contact angles, absorption and surface/interfacial
tensions of liquids.The KSV CAM software for image
analysis is a true 32-bit software running on
WindowsTM 98/NT/2000/XP. Two factors are critical
to the accurate measurement of contact angles and
surface/interfacial tensions by optical techniques;
image quality and method of image analysis. Image
quality depends on the lighting source, lens and image
capture of the instrument. The high resolution CCD
camera ensures that these images are captured and
transferred to the software without distortion or
degeneration. Image analysis is performed on the

image stored to your computer. The drop profile
is extracted from the stored image with subpixel
accuracy. This profile is then curve fitted to the
Young-Laplace equation. The entire fitted curve
may then be used to calculate contact angle or
surface tension.
This approach represents an important advance
over traditional calculation of these parameters from
drop images. Circular, polynomial and BashforthAdams approaches (also available in the software)
utilize only parts of the drop profile and may often
produce erroneous results, especially for contact
angles of large drops.

•
•
•
•

•
•
•

•
•
•
•

Static or equilibrium contact angle
Sessile drop (bubble) surface tension
Absorption
Wetting
Drop volume
Length of the drop baseline
Surface free energy of solids:
1. Zisman Plot (critical surface tension)
2. OWRK
3. Simple Fowkes (geometric mean)
4. Extended Fowkes
5. Wu (harmonic mean)
6. van Oss Acid-Base
7. Equation of State
8. Schultz 1
9. Schultz 2
Pendant drop/raised bubble
surface/interfacial tension
Static & Dynamic
surface/interfacial tension
Critical micelle concentration

Drop volume

CAM 101 Specifications
Measuring ranges
Inaccuracy
Maximum sample size
Frame interval
Max. Measuring speed
Camera
Light source
Dispenser

Computer requirements

www.ksvltd.com

0...180°, 0.01...999 mN/m
± 0.1°, ± 0.01 mN/m
Unlimited x 150 x 150 mm
33 ms...1000 s
30 full frames per second
FireWire CCD camera with
50 mm optics
LED based background lighting
Manual Hamilton 1 ml adjustable
precision syringe with proprietary
easy to use "One Touch
Dispenser" mechanism
Desktop or laptop PC with
WindowsTM 98/NT/2000/XP

KSV Instruments Ltd
Höyläämötie 7
00380 Helsinki
FINLAND

Tel. +358-9-5497-3300
Fax +358-9-5497-3333
e-mail:
Web site: www.ksvltd.com

KSV Instruments Inc.
P.O. Box 192
Monroe, CT 06468
USA

Tel. +1-800-280 6216
+1-203-268-1745
Fax +1-203-459-0437
e-mail: