Answer 1:
Liquid water is not itself wet, but
can make other solid materials wet.
Wetness is the ability of a liquid to
adhere to the surface of a solid, so when we
say that something is wet, we mean that the liquid
is sticking to the surface of a material.
Whether an object is wet or dry depends on a
balance between cohesive and adhesive
forces. Cohesive forces are attractive forces
within the liquid that cause the molecules in the
liquid to prefer to stick together. Cohesive
forces are also responsible for surface
tension. If the cohesive forces are very
strong, then the liquid molecules really like to
stay close together and they won't spread out on
the surface of an object very much. On the
contrary, adhesive forces are the attractive
forces between the liquid and the surface of the
material. If the adhesive forces are strong, then
the liquid will try and spread out onto the
surface as much as possible. So how wet a
surface is depends on the balance between these
two forces. If the adhesive forces
(liquid-solid) are bigger than the cohesive forces
(liquid-liquid), we say the material becomes wet,
and the liquid tends to spread out to maximize
contact with the surface. On the other hand, if
the adhesive forces (liquid-solid) are smaller
than the cohesive forces (liquid-liquid), we say
the material is dry, and the liquid tends to
bead-up into a spherical drop and tries to
minimize the contact with the surface.
Water actually has pretty high cohesive
forces due to hydrogen bonding, and so is not as
good at wetting surfaces as some liquids such as
acetone or alcohols. However, water does wet
certain surfaces like glass for example. Adding
detergents can make water better at wetting by
lowering the cohesive forces . Water resistant
materials such as Gore-tex fabric is made of
material that is hydrophobic (water
repellent) and so the cohesive forces within the
water (liquid-liquid) are much stronger than the
adhesive force (liquid-solid) and water tends to
bead-up on the outside of the material and you
stay dry. |
Answer 2:
To answer this question, we need to define the
term "wet." If we define "wet" as the condition of
a liquid sticking to a solid surface, such as
water wetting our skin, then we cannot say that
water is wet by itself, because it takes a liquid
AND a solid to define the term "wet."
If we define "wet" as a sensation that we
get when a liquid comes in contact with us, then
yes, water is wet to us.
If we define "wet" as "made of liquid or
moisture", then water is definitely wet because it
is made of liquid, and in this sense, all
liquids are wet because they are all made of
liquids. I think that this is a case of a word
being useful only in appropriate contexts.
Click Here to return to the search form.
|