Question

Mercury does not wet glass. This is the property of liquid known as:
A. Adhesion
B. Surface tension
C. Viscosity
D. Compressibility

Answer 1

Hint: The term cohesive means to create a surface tension on a water it holds the hydrogen bonds together. However the in adhesive water is attached to other molecules but adhesive forces pull water towards other molecules.

Step By Step Answer:
In water the adhesive force is more than the cohesive force which means if you put a tube in a beaker full of water the level of water will rise and the tube inside the beaker full of water will be wet. Moreover, if you follow the same experiment with the beaker full of mercury then the tube inside the beaker full of mercury the level of mercury in the tube will fall and the tube doesn’t get wet because cohesive force is more than adhesive force. So this means that the dissimilar particles or surface to cling one another in case of mercury and this case is followed by the property of adhesion. In short we can also say that mercury cannot get wet in water because the cohesive forces within the drops are stronger than the adhesive forces between the drops of the glass.

Therefore, the answer to this question is option (A) the property of adhesion.

Note: Mercury has a density of 13.6 grams per centimetre cubed whereas water has the density of 1.0 gram. Thus, mercury has more mass than water. Therefore, some of the objects that will sink in the water but in case of mercury the same object will not sink it will float on it such as Steal, lead, sliver.