Why do my Cheerios in milk act like magnets with different polarities causing them to repel or attract each other?

Question

Why do my Cheerios in milk act like magnets with different polarities causing them to repel or attract each other?

In: Physics

Answer 1

Because each individual Cheerios piece is meant to sink, but they can’t get through the milk’s surface *tension* (assuming it’s a dairy milk). Thus, the milk’s surface molecules direct pieces of Cheerios to “stick” to each other.

It’s fluid mechanics/physics at work.