Is water really wet?

With that logic that means fire is burning

 

Why didn't you make this post a poll? That way we could see what the majority of people think easier.

Also No.

 

yes water is wet.

 

i thought this debate died wtf

 

What? With my logic it would mean that if something is on fire it is burning, which is true.

 

Yes.

 

You wanna fight me on this mate?

 

I'd say it depends on how you define wet, but by this definition:

You could say that each molecule of water is covered by other molecules of water, and therefore, water is wet unless its a single molecule of water.

 

rates

 

Sure thing.

So, let's look at a couple things. First of all. What is water? Water in it's smallest form can be describe as simply as H2O. Two hydrogen molecules, and one oxygen molecule. What gives the ability of water to make things wet (intentionally worded this way for discussion sake) is the fact that water is "sticky". So what we need to ask ourselves, is why is water sticky?

Water is sticky because of a type of chemical bond we call hydrogen bonds, and the fact that water is a polar molecule. This means that the positive charged hydrogen atoms on the water molecules can attach to other negatively charged substances, and at the same time the negatively charged oxygen molecule can attach to positive forces. Nearly every surface has a net ionic polarity no matter what is the substance is giving water it's 'adhesive' qualities. This is the portion that you guys are focusing on, and that the video that @FoxPac posted is focusing on.

However.. it doesn't end there. This is what makes water wet. When you look at a glass of water, you're looking at a glass of a ton of individual water molecules. If you pull out a single atomic level H2O compound, you have water. If you throw that single compound in to a glass of water, those hydrogen bonds are going to act on that single molecule of water and surround it with other water. In fact, if you look at a droplet of water in space- you'll see that it forms a nearly perfect sphere. This is because the water molecules are sticking to each other.... similar in to how these water molecules are sticking to other surfaces... That means water, is in itself wet, because it is wet with the surrounding water molecules.

But Helix- wait. If it's wet, how do you make it "no longer wet"?

Actually. You can. Fairly easily, and you do it pretty often. There's two ways immediately that I can think of.

1) Heat. Once you evaporate water it has so much energy that these water molecules are no longer sticking to itself and it loses it's adhesive/cohesive properties. The water is no longer wet until it has a surface that it can attach to cool it and condense it down.

2) Freezing. If you drop an ice cube on the floor, the floor is not wet if it's cold enough to keep the ice as ice. That's because it's lost these cohesive/properties and is no longer considered a "wet" substance until you melt it. Ice is inherently dry below it's freezing temperature.

So yep. Water an in itself, be wet. And unless you have a single molecule of it - it is.

 

TL;DR:

 

Fake News. Water is still not wet

Water + water = not wet, just means more water. :shrug:

 

Okay but a few things:

1. You say water is "surrounded" by other molecules, but that isn't what makes something wet. If I throw some water in a circle and place a towel in the middle of the circle, the towel isn't wet, it's just surrounded by water

2. Water cannot be made wet by other water either because, on the molecular level, nothing touches anything. One water molecule's nucleus does not touch another, they are just very close

You can't say that glue sticks to itself, otherwise it would be useless. Saying water can make itself wet follows the same principle

 

1. I apologize if the rest of the explanation didn't make sense- however I thought I went in to pretty good detail about hydrogen bonding. When I say surrounded I mean that every side of the water molecule is hydrogen bound to another water molecule. Not that there is a physical distance between each molecule.

2. I... don't see where you're going here then? So nothing ever gets wet? You're talking about semantics and metaphysics here. Even though their nucleus does not physically touch, there is still an interaction going on between their electron shells.

But glue does stick itself. It also has cohesive and adhesive properties? I don't see your point either.

To be honest.. your entire post is confusing.

 

nice

nice

 

dude.. u took this too literal.

 

me_irl

 

Water isn't wet. Wetness is a description of our experience of water; what happens to us when we come into contact with water in such a way that it impinges on our state of being. We, or our possessions, 'get wet'. A less impinging sense experience of water is that it is cold or warm, while visual experience tells us that it is green or blue or muddy or fast-flowing. We learn by experience that a sensation of wetness is associated with water: 'there must be a leak/I must have sat in something.'

this thread stinks

 

Okay, here

If you look up the first definition of wet, it's "covered or saturated with water or another liquid."
A water molecule cannot be saturated with water, unlike a T shirt, where if you spill water on it, it absorbs into the T shirt and increased the weight
If I spill water on a water molecule, and pick up the water molecule, the water molecule did not absorb anything, and is the same weight as it was before you added the amount of water

If you want to look at the definition of the noun wet, "liquid that makes something damp."
Water is a liquid, and the definition states that the liquid MAKES something damp. How can water MAKE itself damp, if it is damp to begin with?

And the question is asking if water is wet. Since you are looking at the molecular level, is a single molecule of water wet?
Because if water truly IS wet, then this should be the case, but your argument relied on molecules of water interacting with other molecules of water

 

Absorption takes place because of hydrogen bonding. The "absorbtion" is the water molecules hanging on to the t-shirt through these hydrogen bonds- this is the adhesive property I was talking about. This is the adhesive property I was talking about.

Yes. If you dip a single water molecule in water, and pull it back out, those hydrogen bonds will still be intact and have "absorbed" other molecules. When you pull the single molecule out, it will pull the other bonded molecules back out with it.

What next? This is fun.