Origin of adhesion in humid air

Doo-In Kim1, Jaroslaw Grobelny, Namboodiri Pradeep

  • 1National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA. dooin.kim@nist.gov

Related Concept Videos

Adhesion01:14

Adhesion

Adhesion occurs when one type of molecule is attracted to a different molecule. Water exhibits adhesive properties in the presence of polar surfaces, such as glass or cellulose in plants. For instance, when water is poured into a glass, the positively charged hydrogen molecules of water are more attracted to the negatively charged oxygen molecules in the silica than to the oxygen in neighboring water molecules.
Capillary action is a result of water’s adhesive tendencies. When a narrow glass...
Cohesion01:07

Cohesion

Cohesion is the attraction between molecules of the same type, such as water molecules. Water molecules have an overall neutral charge but are polar molecule. An oxygen atom in one water molecule has a partial negative charge that can bind to a hydrogen atom with a partial positive charge in a second water molecule, forming a hydrogen bond. Each water molecule can form up to four hydrogen bonds with other water molecules. Hydrogen bonds are responsible for water's cohesive nature.
On a surface,...
Surface Tension, Capillary Action, and Viscosity02:57

Surface Tension, Capillary Action, and Viscosity

Surface Tension
The various IMFs between identical molecules of a substance are examples of cohesive forces. The molecules within a liquid are surrounded by other molecules and are attracted equally in all directions by the cohesive forces within the liquid. However, the molecules on the surface of a liquid are attracted only by about one-half as many molecules. Because of the unbalanced molecular attractions on the surface molecules, liquids contract to form a shape that minimizes the number...
Adherens Junctions01:24

Adherens Junctions

Strong contact points between adjacent cells anchor them to each other, forming tissues. Such anchoring junctions are of two types –  adherens junctions and desmosomes. Adherens junctions are abundant in tissues such as  epithelium and endothelium, forming a continuous zone of adhesion called the adhesion belt. In other tissues, such as  heart muscle, they appear as clusters, linking the cells to produce coordinated heart muscle contraction.
Adherens Junctions are Dynamic
The endothelial cells...
Cell Adhesion in Plants01:14

Cell Adhesion in Plants

Plants have rigid cell walls that are made up of cell wall polysaccharides that mediate cell-cell adhesion. The primary cell walls of plants consist of two independent and interacting polysaccharide networks: a pectin matrix that embeds the second network comprising cellulose and hemicelluloses.
Pectins are complex heteropolymers mainly composed of negatively-charged α-D-glucopyranosyl uronic acid and some neutral glycosyl residues such as α-L-rhamnopyranose, α-L-arabinofuranose, and...
Xylem and Transpiration-driven Transport of Resources02:03

Xylem and Transpiration-driven Transport of Resources

The xylem of vascular plants distributes water and dissolved minerals that are taken up by the roots to the rest of the plant. The cells that transport xylem sap are dead upon maturity, and the movement of xylem sap is a passive process.