Capillary Action: Where does the energy come from?

Question

You put a sponge on a wet surface, it pulls water up against gravity. Where does the energy come from that now is kinetic energy in the water?

In: 0

Answer 1

Intermolecular attraction. A bit like surface tension, except the water molecules are attracted to other molecules than each other. Being stuck to the surface is a lower energy state, just like magnets being stuck to iron are. You need energy to separate them again.