No, water itself isn't wet. Wetness is a description of water adhering to a surface.
Understanding Wetness
The concept of "wetness" hinges on interaction. Something is considered wet when water molecules adhere to its surface, a process involving intermolecular forces. These forces cause the water to spread and cling, changing the properties of that surface.
- What causes wetness? Wetness occurs when a liquid, typically water, comes into contact with a solid surface and adheres to it.
- Water as the cause: Water is the agent that causes wetness, not the recipient of it. Think of it as the active participant, not the passive one.
- Analogy: Consider a paint brush. The paint (analogous to water) makes the wall (analogous to the surface) painted. The paint is not painted; it is the thing doing the painting.
Why Water Can't Be Wet
Water cannot be "wet" for the same reason that light cannot be illuminated. Wetness describes a state of being affected by water, not a state of being inherent to water itself. The definition of wet requires the interaction between water and another substance. As senior Bryce Peters points out, "when something gets wet it's hit by water so water itself can't be considered where water is the cause of something being wet."
Examples
- A dry towel: A towel is dry until it comes into contact with water, at which point it becomes wet.
- Rain on pavement: The pavement is dry until the rain falls, then the pavement becomes wet.
- Water in a glass: The glass is dry until water is poured in, then the interior of the glass becomes wet. The water itself remains simply water.
In conclusion, "wet" is a descriptor applied to a surface or object that has water adhering to it. Water itself is the cause of wetness, and therefore cannot be wet.
