Ferrofluid meniscus in a horizontal or vertical magnetic field

An optical system using reflections of a narrow laser beam to measure the height and shape of a ferrofluid meniscus in response to uniform applied magnetic fields finds that meniscus height on a vertical flat wall decreases in horizontal applied field and increases in vertical applied field. An approximate energy minimization analysis predicts meniscus height in directional agreement with measurements. This study is a first step in calculating the tangential surface force acting in flows where magnetization magnitude and direction lag a changing magnetic field direction, and the meniscus shape is magnetically perturbed.