Testing the water
Water. Why is it wet?
Science may still yield answers on this front.
The question of why water is wet can be a bit paradoxical and thought-provoking. The term "wetness" is a property attributed to liquids, including water, that comes from our sensory experience and how we perceive interactions between liquids and other materials.
"Wetness" is the sensation we experience when a liquid comes into contact with a solid surface or another material, like our skin. Water molecules have a strong tendency to stick to other molecules due to their polar nature. This means that the water molecules have positive and negative ends, and they can form weak bonds with other polar or charged substances, like those present on the surface of our skin.
When we touch water, the water molecules adhere to our skin, and the sensation of "wetness" arises as a result of the physical interaction between the water and our skin's receptors. The water molecules change the way our skin responds to touch, which we interpret as being "wet."
So, water is "wet" because of its ability to adhere to and interact with other surfaces, causing a perception of wetness when it comes into contact with our skin or other objects. It's more of a sensory experience than an intrinsic property of water itself.