NationStates

Debate if water is wet on this thread.

I think it is because if something is splashed in water it is considered wet. Therefore water itself should be considered wet.

Why would water not be wet?

According to the Obrenian Department of Advancement and Science, Water is, in fact, wet. The definition of wet is moisturized by contacting H2O Particles. All particles in water are touching other H2O particles. (Btw I'm not in rp I was just making a remark admins please don't get angy at me lol)

Forever Indomitable wrote:

Future Beans wrote:Why would water not be wet?

Facts

no. something has to be solid to be wet.

water can be wet, as ice, but in its liquid state (what is traditionally referred to as "water")? no, water isn't wet.

If water is wet, then is fire is burnt. That's nonsensical to me so I don't think water is wet.

Water isn’t wet, water is soggy.

No, water is liquid. It can make solid things wet.

Hispida wrote:no. something has to be solid to be wet.

water can be wet, as ice, but in its liquid state (what is traditionally referred to as "water")? no, water isn't wet.

ADJECTIVE: Wet
covered or saturated with water or another liquid:
"she followed, slipping on the wet rock"

Dammit, cyber Lenin is right.

Hold on, I have an objection.lol for this

here it is

Not a chance

Technically, wet can be used as a noun for a liquid that makes thing damp, or moisture in general, so yes, water is in fact wet

Well, not all water is “wet”.

If you think about it, something needs water or liquid to be on one of it’s surfaces to be “wet” but not entirely drenched in water or liquid.

Technically, that would mean that all touching water molecules would be “wet”. So all isolated water molecules would be “not wet”.

Feels like there's no objectively right answer, like half glass full or empty.

Free Ravensburg wrote:Hold on, I have an objection.lol for this

here it is

Dear god lol

Forever Indomitable wrote:Feels like there's no objectively right answer, like half glass full or empty.

nonono rational thought is not allowed here

If you add water to a shirt, the shirt becomes wet.
However, if you add water to water, you just get more water.

Therefore water can not be wet.

No. Water is not wet.
Wet is wet.
Wet is not water, as water is water and is not wet because wet is wet therefore water is indeed not wet, and water is water. Actually, let me further elaborate. The constant state of wetness can be considered as water because water is technically always wet, however water is not the word wet, it is just wet wet, so it's not wet, but wet wet, while not being wet, while wet. Water is wet wet, and wet is not water water. Does that make sense? Alright. Allow me to continue. Water water is not wet wet wet wet, however, wet is water, and water is not actually wet 100% of the time, because it is not actually wet, it is water, and so, it just be like that sometimes.

Water isn't wet. Water makes things wet. Can fire get burnt? No.

Countesia wrote:Water isn't wet. Water makes things wet. Can fire get burnt? No.

Exactly!

It seems that most people are intentionally stapling onto the question, that it is referring only to the adjective form of the word, which is does not, so thinking that it is without it being specifying is intentionally limiting. Water is wet, if wet is a noun, so in the eyes of the question, water is wet, because it didn’t supply a specific definition for the word wet, and thus all definitions can be considered and used to answer the question

Cygnus Federation wrote:It seems that most people are intentionally stapling onto the question, that it is referring only to the adjective form of the word, which is does not, so thinking that it is without it being specifying is intentionally limiting. Water is wet, if wet is a noun, so in the eyes of the question, water is wet, because it didn’t supply a specific definition for the word wet, and thus all definitions can be considered and used to answer the question

Water isn't wet because it is a liquid that wets things. Once you come into contact with water you become wet. Until then water is liquid and you are dry.
Source: http://www.theguardian.com

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.
Source: UCSB Science Line.

Water is both wet and not wet, but I personally beleive that water is not wet due to an overwhelming amount of evidence that it can't be wet.

Greater Morvonia wrote:

Cygnus Federation wrote:

But if we, the ones answering the question, choose to define a term in one way, then we, the ones answering the question, are rephrasing the question asked, and are intentionally gating off any other perspective for the purpose of straightforwardness, despite it no longer being the same question

The question is, “Is water wet?”, not “Does water have the attribute of being wet?”

No matter whether water is wet in one sense of the term, is water is wet in any sense of the term, due to the question not specifying, then we can conclude that water is wet. Just in one sense, but to the question, water is wet

Yes, water is wet, because dry water exists.