• protist@mander.xyz
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    2 months ago

    If water had no polarity, life as we know it could not exist, so the mess in your apt would be the least of your troubles

  • GorGor@startrek.website
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    2 months ago

    If y’all have worked with silicone oil, yea it works kinda like this (depending on viscosity).

    It creeps up out of containers, it creeps up walls. It gets everywhere.

  • don@lemm.ee
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    2 months ago

    A two micrometer thick layer of water would evaporate nearly instantaneously, I’d think.

    • TheSlad@sh.itjust.works
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      2 months ago

      Without surface tension, water would evaporate much faster in general. Probably could set out a cup of water in the morning and it would be gone by bedtime.

      • xantoxis@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Your own body would basically be a fog cloud of evaporation all day until you were dehydrated like a skeleton in a salt flat, which is exactly what you would be, since no life anywhere could exist.

    • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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      2 months ago

      You could even mop it up by placing the mop in the middle of the room and just wait.

      • hakase@lemm.ee
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        2 months ago

        If there were no surface tension there would almost definitely be no wicking action either. If it didn’t evaporate super quickly, water without surface tension would probably be a giant pain in the ass to clean up.

        • Another Catgirl@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          2 months ago

          Surface tension and surface energy are related but different. The surface energy of the interface between water and air causes surface tension. The surface energy of the interface between water and mop fibers causes wicking.

  • SaltyIceteaMaker@lemmy.ml
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    2 months ago

    Hmm i think that would actually be better as the water where basically non existent caus it’s so spread out. It would just instantly evaporate no?

    • BallsandBayonets@lemmings.world
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      2 months ago

      That’s actually exactly why it’s a bad cleaning agent, at least for sterilization purposes. It evaporates before it can kill any microbes.

      • Daxtron2@startrek.website
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        2 months ago

        Yeah if you’re using high percentage isopropanol it’s less effective. I think the current recommendation is 70% for sterilization purposes as it remains in contact longer. Higher percentages is more for its use as a solvent or cleaning electronics.

          • LarmyOfLone@lemm.ee
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            2 months ago

            Yeah or something with hydrophilic properties with the water help destroy microbes. I love reading about chemistry but keep forgetting.

    • Dharma Curious (he/him)@slrpnk.net
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      2 months ago

      This is almost completely unrelated, but your comment made me think of it for some reason, so story time:

      Years ago, I worked at a gas station on the night shift. We had these huge wall mounted containers of cleaning supplies, like soap dispensers in a rest room, but like 30 gallons/100 liters, and full of various cleaning supplies that a company came by every so often and swapped the empties for full ones. There were like 5 of em, for use in cleaning different stuff.

      One day, they came and swapped em out, and no one noticed that they’d all been replaced with rubbing alcohol until it was already after end of day for the delivery company. It took weeks before we could get them to come back out, and for several weeks I had to mop the floors and clean the whole store with diluted alcohol. It was sparkling clean, but good GOD the head rush. I had to leave the doors open and blast the AC whenever we were cleaning.

  • cmrn@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    I just spilled my water bottle while in a tent and it feels much more like the latter in this example

  • comrade19@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Petrol is kindve like this but it evaporates so quickly. What weighs less than petrol? Is the rate something evaporates related to the weight?

    • Dave2@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      2 months ago

      The rate at which something evaporates is determined by their atoms bond strength, weight has less importance. The reason petrol evaporates fast (and melts and boils at low temperatures) is because they only have London forces, which is the weakest weak bond.

      • dave@feddit.uk
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        2 months ago

        I had never heard of London forces—named after a German! Thanks Dave2!

          • dave@feddit.uk
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            2 months ago

            Your request for a duel is held in a queue and will be answered as soon as I’ve dealt with my colleague who inconsiderately has the same initials as me.

    • LarmyOfLone@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      If you want to test it you could just seal your room, tape the windows and doors and keyholes, then let enough petrol evaporate until the air is saturated. Then you can test spilling it on the floor without fear of evaporation!