During the glass and wax paper lab, we observed the adhesive properties of water. When a droplet of water touched the glass, it dispersed immediately. The droplet placed on the wax paper remained intact and in droplet form. Also, when the glass and wax sheets were flipped, the water remained on the glass and fell off the wax paper. This is due to adhesion; the water molecules stuck to the glass molecules and prevented the droplet from falling when the glass was turned upside down. Water is polar. Its electrons are unevenly distributed among the molecule with two unshared electron pairs on the oxygen atom. The hydrogen atoms align themselves along one side of the oxygen atom, causing a slightly positive and slightly negative side. This causes a dipole to occur. Since glass is also polar, the water and the glass will be attracted to each other because of their positive and negative charges. In real life, adhesive properties are vital for the survival of plants. Water molecules will adhere themselves to cellular membranes of plants and move up the plant to provide nutrients. Without adhesion, all the water will remain in the ground as gravity pulls down on it.
In addition to adhesion, water molecules can also exhibit cohesion. As referenced in the paragraph above, when the water droplet touched the wax paper, the water did not disperse. Instead, it remained in its droplet form. This is because water is highly cohesive; it is attracted to itself. The reason it stays in droplet form is because the positively charged hydrogen atoms are attracted to the negatively charged oxygen atoms. Therefore, when you have to water molecules, they will instantly be attracted to each other because of the charges. Since wax