Adhesion

Water molecules stick to other substances, especially those with charged molecules or atoms on their surface. Adhesion explains why things get wet, such as your cotton shirt during a rain. In this example, the water is clinging to the surface of cotton fiber. Adhesion and cohesion explain why water moves up a 300 ft tall tree. It also helps, to a minor extent, when you use a paper straw to drink a soda.

• How can adhesion help counter the pull of gravity as water moves up the xylem of a tree?
• Why does water move further in a capillary tube (narrow diameter) than in a large glass drinking container?
• If water adheres to another substance would you say the substance is polar or nonpolar?
• Do hydrogen bonds have anything to do with adhesion?
• Does adhesion explain why a water strider can "walk on water?"

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