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Why can’t mercury wet a glass?

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+2 votes
in Fluid Mechanics by (118k points)
Why can’t mercury wet a glass?

(a) Cohesion

(b) Adhesion

(c) Surface tension

(d) Compressibility

The question was posed to me by my college director while I was bunking the class.

Origin of the question is Power Absorbed in Viscous Flow topic in section Viscous Flow & Turbulent Flow of Fluid Mechanics

1 Answer

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Best answer
Correct answer is (c) Surface tension

To explain: Surface tension is an elastic tendency of a fluid. It results due to imbalance of intermolecular attractive forces. Any molecule at the surface of the liquid experiences a net inward force. Mercury having a higher density than water, cannot wet a glass.

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