I saw a video in which the gradient in surface tension of two fluids caused a small boat to be propelled forward (Marangoni effect). Can that be used to move large-scale structures, like ships, theoretically, at least?
http://video.mit.edu/watch/the-marangoni-effect-how-to-make-a-soap-propelled-boat-13540/
Thank you very much for this beautil video. The reason why you can not do that for large scale structure is exactly because of the scale. Surface tension force can be thought as a force that can affect scales of the order of the so called capillary length (in water is about 2-3mm) and appears when you want to deflect the interface. The pressure difference produced, according to Laplace-Young equation, is equal to sigma times the curvature you want to produce. Now in water we are talking of about 70 mN/m.... it's enough to stand the weight of an insect or a small paper boat, but it is many order of magnitude smaller than what is required to sustain a boat!
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