内聚压力理论(cohesion.doc

内聚压力理论（Cohesion 内 聚压力理论(Cohesion-tension Theory)内聚压力理论 (Cohesi on-te nsi on Theory) cohesi on-tension theoryatmospheric pressure can support a colu mn of water up to 10 meters high. but plants can move water much higher; the sequoia tree can pump water to its very top more tha n 100 meters above the ground, until the end of the nineteenth cen tury, the moveme nt of water in trees and other tall pla nts was a mystery. some botanists hypothesized that the living cells of pla nts acted as pumps. but many experime nts dem on strated that the stems of pla nts in which all the cells are killed can still move water to appreciable heights. other expla nati ons for the moveme nt of water in pla nts have bee n based on root pressure, a push on the water from the roots at the bottom of the pla nt. but root pressure is not n early great eno ugh to push water to the tops of tall trees. furthermore, the conifers, which are among the tallest trees, have unu sually low root pressures.if water is not pumped to the top of a tall tree, and if it is not pushed to the top of a tall tree, then we may ask: how does it get there? accord ing to the curre ntly accepted cohesi on-tension theory, water is pulled there. the pull on a risi ng colu mn of water in a pla nt results from the evaporati on of water at the top of the pla nt. as water is lost from the surface of the leaves, a n egative pressure, or tension, is created. the evaporated water is replaced by water movi ng from in side the pla nt in un broke n colu mns that exte nd from the top of a pla nt to its roots. the same forces that create surface tension in any sample of water are responsible for the maintenance of these un broke n colu mns of water. whe n water is confined in tubes of very small bore, the forces of cohesi on (the attractio n betwee n water molecules) are so great that the stre ngth of a colu mn of water compares with the stre ngth of a steel wire of the same diameter. this cohesive stre ngth permits colu mns of wat