1do you mean that a wet paper is easier to tear?
well, i suppose the papers are made up of glucose units. in presence of water the strength of the bonds between these units weaken, hence it is easier to tear. its just a guess though.
9 Answers
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7I think the strong cohesive force between the cellulose fibres is weakend by the water molecules which makes it easy to tear.
71i.e., In other words, the existing hydrogen bonds between the cellulose fibres are broken and newer stronger bonds with water are established. As a result of it, it is easy to tear the paper off.
But this still has to be added.
1i do agree with sigma to some extent... though not completely convinced...
1well m not too sure abt this....
but can v consider hydrolysis to be a factor??...i know this idea is a lil naive...but just asking...
coz often different stuff act differently with water...most of it are just molecular rearrangements....for example...the flour when mixed with water in appropriate quantity becomes dough...clothes when wet are almost impossible to tear etc..
i have two points to make...
1. hydrolysis
2. molecular rearrangements maybe (not able to recall the appropriate term)
like always m not sure...
21I think it is because of 2 facts:
1)Water wets paper(i.e. the adhesive force is quite strong and it reaches the smallest of corners due to capillary action)
2)It has a high dielectric const. and power of polarization.
11Well, first of all how do you break a piece of paper. You can only tear it.
71After wetting, If you just pull the sides, it 'breaks'