ELi5 Why everytime I put a drink down like Milk it makes a ring on the table

Question

(EXPLAINED)

I know im taking the explain like im 5 thing to literally but I’ve never known yknow

In: Other

Answer 1

The water is condensation that forms on the outside of the glass.

With a cold drink, it will cool down the air immediately surrounding the glass. One effect of temperature on air is that it changes how much moisture that air can hold – how humid it can be. So as the air cools, the moisture that was being held in the air no longer can be, and it condenses – on a large scale this is how fog is formed (which then burns off as the air temperature warms up), and on a smaller glass scale, the water condenses on the outside of the glass, runs down it and forms a ring.