 Wetting is the ability of a liquid to maintain contact with a solid surface , resulting from intermolecular interactions when the two are brought together . The degree of wetting ( wettability ) is determined by a force balance between adhesive and cohesive forces . Wetting deals with the three phases of materials : gas , liquid , and solid . It is now widely accepted that the wetting of a solid by a liquid is not a single phenomenon but is a complex process involving several distinct steps, each of which is associated with a different kind of surface energy .
The first step is the adsorption of the liquid on the solid surface . The adsorption