I have some wet clothes hanging to dry. They appear to be drying from the top down - i.e. currently the top part is dry, but the bottom is still damp. This would imply that the water is dripping out of them, which would makes sense because water tends to do that.
BUT BUT BUT...
They stopped dripping a long time ago! When they stopped dripping, they were still uniformly damp (as far as I could perceive by sight and touch). Since they aren't dripping, that would imply that the water should be evaporating uniformly. But it's evaporating from the top down! Why is this happening when they aren't dripping???
2 comments:
If the water were running down the cloth, it is probable that more water was held in the lower part than the higher part, while the cloth was still dripping. That means that more water would still be in the lower part than the higher part when the garment stopped dripping, too.
I don't mean to over-simplify, but if it makes sense when dectectable water accumulates in the lower part of the garment while it's hanging, doesn't it make sense that undetectable (in terms of falling droplets) levels of water also accumulate in the lower part of the garment, too?
To test this, a reasonable experiment would be to hang two similar pieces of cloth (e.g. towels) from the same line at the same time. Halfway through the estimated drying period (for example, twelve hours), reverse one of them (hang it with clothespins). Estimate the dampness to the touch of both at regular intervals, at both the top and bottom of the towels as they hang.
Not a scientific explanation, but I think it'll do...
Most of my brain accepts that explanation. There's still a small breakaway faction that insists that if it's not dripping the water must be uniform, despite the evidence of clothes that have been in the washing machine spin cycle (and therefore never dripped) drying uniformly. But I think this is the part of my brain that also says "They can't get hypothermia by falling through the ice! It's 8 degrees out!"
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