🧲 Adhesion
Adhesion is the tendency of dissimilar particles or surfaces to cling to one another due to intermolecular forces. This phenomenon occurs when molecules of different substances attract each other and stick together, often observed between liquids and solid surfaces.
🔬 Scientific Explanation
Adhesion is primarily caused by van der Waals forces, hydrogen bonding, or other electrostatic interactions between different materials. It plays a critical role in various natural and industrial processes such as painting, gluing, and biological functions like water transport in plants.
📌 Key Characteristics:
- Occurs between different substances (unlike cohesion, which is between like molecules).
- Enables liquids to wet or spread over surfaces.
- Important in capillary action and surface tension behavior.
- Affected by the nature of the surfaces and the type of liquid.
🌿 Example:
Water droplets sticking to the inside of a glass or to a leaf surface is an example of adhesion. The water molecules are attracted to the polar surface of the glass or leaf.
🧠Note:
Adhesion is often observed together with cohesion, which helps explain phenomena like meniscus formation in liquids and the ability of liquids to move through narrow tubes (capillary action).