Why is water wet but mercury does not?

When liquid water is confined in a tube, its surface (meniscus) has a concave shape because water wets the surface and creeps up the side. Mercury does not wet glass – the cohesive forces within the drops are stronger than the adhesive forces between the drops and glass.

Does mercury make you wet?

The cohesive forces among the molecules of mercury are more than the adhesive forces. Hence, it does not wet other surfaces generally. However, in water, the adhesive forces are greater than cohesive forces, so it wets our skin and other substances.

Is mercury a non wetting liquid?

The Mercury is known as non-wetting liquid because it does not wet the surface. The Mercury posses this property due to. Cohesion. Surface tension.

Why does mercury not stick?

Mechanical Properties of Fluids. Why mercury does not cling to glass? The force of cohesion between mercury molecules is much greater than force of adhesion between mercury and glass. Therefore, mercury does not cling to glass.

What is the difference between mercury and water?

Mercury has a density of 13.5 g/mL, which is about 13.5 times denser than water (1.0 g/mL), so a small amount of mercury like this feels unexpectedly heavy. Because liquid mercury expands and contracts in a predictable fashion with temperature, it can be used in thermometers, such as the lab thermometer shown below.

Why mercury gathers in a pool?

Here’s the deal: Pools receive mercury inputs from the atmosphere. When the bottom waters and sediment become anaerobic during the wet season, methyl mercury can form. One problem associated with high methyl mercury concentrations is bioaccumulation.

Can touching mercury harm you?

Mercury is a very toxic or poisonous substance that people can be exposed to in several ways. If it is swallowed, like from a broken thermometer, it mostly passes through your body and very little is absorbed. If you touch it, a small amount may pass through your skin, but not usually enough to harm you.

Why is water attracted to glass?

Water molecules are attracted to the molecules in the wall of the glass beaker. And since water molecules like to stick together, when the molecules touching the glass cling to it, other water molecules cling to the molecules touching the glass, forming the meniscus.

Is water a fluid?

Water is, by far, the most common liquid on Earth. The density of a liquid is usually close to that of a solid, and much higher than in a gas. Therefore, liquid and solid are both termed condensed matter. On the other hand, as liquids and gases share the ability to flow, they are both called fluids.

Why mercury is used in thermometer?

Mercury is the only one in liquid state at room temperature. It’s used in thermometers because it has high coefficient of expansion. It also has a high boiling point which makes it very suitable to measure higher temperatures. Also, it has a shiny appearance and doesn’t stick to the glass surface of glass.

Which has more viscosity water or mercury?

Detailed Solution. Viscosity: It is a measure of the resistance of a fluid which is being deformed by either shear stress or tensile stress. It is denoted by μ. The dynamic viscosity of mercury is greater than water.

Why does water feel wet but Mercury doesn’t?

The particles of mercury have a strong cohesive force i.e. a force of attraction between the molecules of same substance while the particle of water have strong adhesive forces i.e. a force of of attraction between the molecule of different substance.therefore water feels wet while mercury doesn’t feel wet.

Why doesn’t Mercury stick to your hand?

In fact, mercury is considered one of the few “heavy metals”. So it does not stick to your hand. Another hypothesis is that because water is hydrophilic, and there is water in skin, the water sticks to the skin, making it wet. Mercury, on the other hand, is not hydrophilic, and does does not stick (and get your hand “wet”).

Why does a droplet of mercury not wet the glass surface?

However, when looking at mercury, a droplet of mercury will not wet the surface because of the angle it makes with the glass surface. That acute angle is a representation that the forces holding the mercury together is infact stronger than the forces wanting the mercury to dispurse on the surface.

Can Mercury be used to wet skin?

Mercury does not wet skin or a number of other surfaces. It does wet copper, gold, silver and a few other metals. No need to try this on your skin or any other surface in your house or other place used by other people. It is toxic.