Suction cup
A suction cup, also known as a sucker, is an object that uses the negative fluid pressure of air or water to adhere to nonporous surfaces, creating a partial vacuum.
Suction cups are peripherial traits of some animals such as octopuses and squids, and have been reproduced artificially for numerous purposes.
The working face of the suction cup is made of elastic, flexible material and has a curved surface. When the center of the suction cup is pressed against a flat, non-porous surface, the volume of the space between the suction cup and the flat surface is reduced, which causes the air or water between the cup and the surface to be expelled past the rim of the circular cup. The cavity which develops between the cup and the flat surface has little to no air or water in it because most of the fluid has already been forced out of the inside of the cup, causing a lack of pressure. The pressure difference between the atmosphere on the outside of the cup and the low-pressure cavity on the inside of the cup keeps the cup adhered to the surface.
When the user ceases to apply physical pressure to the outside of the cup, the elastic substance of which the cup is made tends to resume its original, curved shape. The length of time for which the suction effect can be maintained depends mainly on how long it takes for air or water to leak back into the cavity between the cup and the surface, equalizing the pressure with the surrounding atmosphere. This depends on the porosity and flatness of the surface and the properties of the cup's rim.
The force required to detach an ideal suction cup by pulling it directly away from the surface is given by the formula:
where:
This is derived from the definition of pressure, which is:
For example, a suction cup of radius 2.0 cm has an area of (0.020 m)2 = 0.0013 square meters. Using the force formula (F = AP), the result is F = (0.0013 m2)(100,000 Pa) = about 130 newtons.
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