Physics Case study (4 Marks)

A mosquito thrown into water has its wings wetted. Now, wet wing surfaces tend to stick together because of the surface tension of water. This does not let the mosquito fly.

No, it does not violate the principle of conservation of energy.
There is a force of attraction between glass and water, which is why the liquid rises in the tube. However, when water and glass are not in contact, there exists a potential energy in the system. When they are brought into contact, this potential energy is first converted into kinetic energy, which lets the liquid rush upwards in the tube, and then into gravitational potential energy. Therefore, energy is not created in the process.

A liquid wets a surface when the angle of contact of the liquid with the surface is small or zero. Due to its fibrous nature, cloth produces capillary action when in contact with water. This makes clothes have very small contact angles with water. When wax is rubbed over cloth, the water does not wet the cloth because wax has a high contact angle with water.

It floats because of the surface tension of water. The surface of water behaves like a stretched membrane. When a blade is placed on the water surface, it's unable to pierce the stretched membrane of water due to its low weight and remains floating. However, if the blade is placed below the surface of water, it no longer experiences the surface tension and sinks to the bottom as the density of the blade is greater than that of water.