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Without surface tension it would stick to whatever thing attracts it more. And a normal piece of cloth attracts water way more than a normal non-carpet floor.

But it also wouldn’t flow freely as the GP expects either. Some oils have almost no surface tension, and they are famously a nightmare to clean up.

As a positive, the water would evaporate faster.

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yuri@pawb.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
the cloth attracts it because of the capillary action pulling water into the gaps therein, and capillary action relies on surface tension! i think without outside forces like suction, the liquid in this scenario would never flow against gravity.

i think hahah

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- marcos@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Surface tension doesn’t tell you anything about the cloth-water interface.
  
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  - yuri@pawb.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    i mean it’s literally why liquids wick into cloth
    
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  - yuri@pawb.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    late reply but i ONLY JUST CONSIDERED, the cloth would most likely have some static charge which WOULD result in a literal “attraction force” towards the water!
    
    physics is so stupid, i love it so much
    
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