What is the difference between adhesive and cohesive materials

See also: Why water is such a good solvent. Adhesion of water to the surface of a material will cause an upward force on the liquid. The surface tension acts to hold the surface intact. Capillary action occurs when the adhesion to the surface material is stronger than the cohesive forces between the water molecules.

The height to which capillary action will take water is limited by surface tension and gravity What exactly is the physical or chemical process that makes adhesive tape sticky? Toggle navigation EDinformatics. What is the difference between adhesion and cohesion? What type of bond occurs between two water molecules? Adhesion and Water Molecules Adhesion : Water is attracted to other substances Adhesion is the attraction of molecules of one kind for molecules of a different kind, and it can be quite strong for water, especially with other molecules bearing positive or negative charges.

Adhesive forces cause dissimilar surfaces to get attracted to each other. Adhesive forces can be mechanical forces that cause molecules to stick together or can be electrostatic forces that exist between positive and negative charges. Cohesive forces exist between similar surfaces. Therefore, these forces cause the formation of clusters of similar molecules. Cohesive forces can be hydrogen bonds or Van der Waal forces. Van der Waal forces exist between nonpolar molecules. The key difference between Adhesive and Cohesive Forces is that adhesive forces exist between dissimilar molecules whereas cohesive forces exist between similar molecules.

Overview and Key Difference 2. What are Adhesive Forces 3. What are Cohesive Forces 4. Adhesive forces are intermolecular forces that exist between dissimilar particles of surfaces.

It is a macroscopic property of a material. Adhesion is the clinging of a surface to another surface where the two surfaces are different from each other. Therefore, adhesive forces are the attractive forces that exist between unlike molecules. Adhesive forces can be mechanical forces or electrostatic forces.

Mechanical forces cause particles to stick together whereas electrostatic forces cause attractions between two opposite charges; positive charges and negative charges.

Apart from that, there are diffusive and dispersive forces that can cause adhesion or adhesive forces. The adhesion and cohesion forces are one of both phenomena. Although they sound to be similar, they are completely known to occur in different terms.

Surface tension is one of the important physical properties of water that describes the relationship between adhesion and cohesion.

Coming to the definitions, the tendency of either two or more different molecules to bond with each other is called Adhesion. In contrast, the attraction force between the same molecules is referred to as Cohesion. Adhesion forces can be one of the electrostatic forces' results exerted on various substances.

Simultaneously, the cohesive forces are associated with the Van der Waals forces and hydrogen bonding that cause liquids like water to withstand the separation. When a glass surface is poured with water, the forces of both adhesive, cohesive act on the water's surface. Also, a strong adhesive force tends the liquid to spread over the surface; on the other side, a strong, cohesive force is responsible for forming water droplets on the water surface.

Both the adhesion and cohesion forces vary in their strengths. For example, if the cohesion forces between water molecules are stronger compared to the adhesion forces between them, then the individual molecules present in them will attract towards each other hence resulting in settling.

If the adhesion forces of the water surfaces are stronger than the water molecules' cohesion forces, the water tends to disperse then. Let us discuss the adhesion and cohesion difference. Adhesion and cohesion are attraction forces, exist between different and the same molecules, respectively. Though they sound to be similar, they differ from each other. Let us come to know how cohesion differs from adhesion, and the primary differences between them are tabulated below:.

Adhesion takes place between the two dissimilar molecules or substances.