eli5: Why do some liquids dry faster than others?

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Like, why do alcohols evaporate faster?

Are liquids that take longer to dry ‘wetter’ than others?

In: Chemistry

4 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Liquids have weak bonds which hold them together and create surface tension.

These bonds are caused by the liquids having unequal charges distributed throughout their molecules, causing the molecules to stick together.

Some have very lopsided charges (like water) while others have less lopsided charges (like ethanol) and so they are less ‘sticky’

This means it takes less energy to free a molecule from the collection.

Another factor is that fluids try to diffuse, move from a high concentration to a low concentration. The concentration of water in the atmosphere in the air varies a lot, but it is almost always higher than the concentration of, say, ethanol in the atmosphere.

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