Education and Career Forum

what are wetting and non wetting properties of a liquid?

the major difference in wetting and non-wetting liquids is as below-


A wetting fluid is capable of maintaining surface contact with a solid and its contact angles are less than 90 degrees (the angle starts from the wetted surface to the surface of the fluid). However non-wetting fluids are not willing to keep the contact area as large as wetting fluids and their contact angles are higher than 90 degrees. Imagine a droplet of mercury. As a non-wetting fluid, mercury remains still on a solid surface like a ball. It does not spread on the solid surface like water.

regards.