Summary
The wetness of water seems blindingly obvious - but dive into the science and things aren’t so clear.
CrowdScience listeners Rachel and Callum were washing their hands one day and it got them thinking about wetness. Why does water feel the way it does? And what makes a liquid wet?
To find out, presenter Anand Jagatia takes a closer look at the behaviour of liquids with materials scientist Mark Miodownik, and finds out why they might not be as wet as we think.
We learn what’s really behind the sensation of feeling something wet on your skin, with the help of physiologist Davide Filingeri and PhD student Jade Ward.
And we turn to a philosopher, Vanessa Seifert, and a chemist, Tim Neudecker, to puzzle out exactly how many water molecules you need before the property of wetness emerges.
Presenter: Anand Jagatia Producer: Anand Jagatia Editor: Cathy Edwards Production Co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano Studio Manager: Bob Nettles and Andrew Garratt
(Image: A photo of a droplet falling into a body of water Credit: Flaviu Cernea / 500pxvia Getty Images)
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hello, you're about to listen to a BBC podcast, so I'd like to tell you where you'll find more just like it. |
| 0:05.5 | I'm Izzy Lee Poulton, an assistant commissioner for BBC Sounds, which means I'm involved in the whole podcast making process. |
| 0:12.0 | Whether that's developing fresh formats or facilitating eye-catching artwork, I helped project manage all the details that make our podcast stand out. |
| 0:19.0 | At the BBC, we've got access to |
| 0:21.4 | storytellers and experts across a huge range of subjects. It could be psychologists, comedians, |
| 0:26.9 | celebrities or journalists, no podcast or day, looks the same here. So no matter what you like, |
| 0:32.7 | check out BBC Sounds. There's probably another podcast on there that you're absolutely |
| 0:36.5 | love. |
| 0:46.6 | Our seas and oceans are full of it. It flows through our rivers. It falls from the skies. |
| 0:53.8 | It's inside our bodies and the cells of all living creatures. In fact, without water, there is no life. We drink it, swim in it, wash with it, |
| 0:58.0 | cook with it. We sail on it and fish in it. But is it wet? You're listening to Crowd Science from the BBC World Service. |
| 1:10.0 | I'm Ann Jagatia, and this |
| 1:12.7 | episode is inspired by two listeners who wrote to us after they made a bit of a splash. |
| 1:18.3 | Hello, crowd science. Hi, Crowd Science. My name is Callum Ewing from Tunbridge Wales in the UK. |
| 1:24.9 | My name's Rachel from New Zealand, my question is what is wetness? |
| 1:30.7 | My question today is, is water wet? I was actually at a sink one day and I turned the water on and |
| 1:40.7 | it burst out and splashed me and I did that thing where you jump back and go, |
| 1:45.2 | ah, I'm wet. And then I went, oh, that's stupid. I'm not wet at all, even though the water |
| 1:50.4 | hit me. I was in a university lecture and I went to wash my hands and I just remember thinking |
| 1:57.4 | to myself, wow, what am I actually feeling here? |
| 2:01.8 | That made me think about wetness in itself, |
| 2:04.5 | so how much water did I need on me to consider it wet? |
... |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in -8 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.