I'm going to guess that it's actually because of specific heat. Plastic doesn't warm up; glass and ceramic do, so water evaporates off them.

And I think the term Frank wants is "internal consonance," which is a general term for when the internal consonant sounds of two neighboring words echo each other. Or possible terminal-initial consonance, if he wanted to narrow it down to exactly the situation he describes, but I'm inventing that term just for him.)

About plastic I know nothing. About poetry I know slightly more than nothing.

Poetically, I don't think there is a specific term for the type of consonance he's mentioning. It's just one type of consonance among many.

However, I would bet money that linguists/philologists have a term for the specific act of blending words the end/begin with the same sound together. What that word is, I have no idea.

Hadn't thought of specific heat. That could be the case. Another property of most plastics is that they tend to generate a static charge on the surface (many plastics have an anti-static compound blended in to try to minimize this). Water droplets would be attracted to this, so it's also possible the plastics maintain more water on their surfaces to start with and thus take longer to dry.

Knew that Polymer Science degree would be useful for something sooner or later.

ooo.

SHINY.

best. comment. ever.

Specific heat capacity and density of ceramic > specific heat capacity and density of plastic.

While I agree that after being placed in a mixed-steam environment a static surface charge would build up --- it is the thermodynamic quality of plastic that lends to an environment conducive to condensation primarily.

Plastic does warm up. Most of your plastic in the home is an A poly plastic which warms up nicely.
The issue is with heat retention. Ceramic holds heat nicely whereas plastic--- not so much. ;)

Internal consonance. I like that. Terminal-initial consonance. I like that, too. Thanks.

My very great pleasure, man.

I don't know what that kind of consonance is specifically called, but I know that part of what makes the words "really flow together" is that English is pretty lazily/sloppily spoken compared to many languages, where you would clearly hear the boundary between the final "l" of "football" and the first "l" of "league" instead of hearing a slurred single "l" sound in the middle of "footballeague". E.g. most English speakers would not even consciously think of pronouncing the names "Anna" and "Ana" differently, but those words sound different in Polish ("Anna" has 2 enunciated "n" sounds).

As for the water beading thing, I think I'd go with surface tension. If you are rinsing off a cutting board, with all the scratches and marks, water collects in spots. If you're rinsing off a glass pan of equal size, the water sheets, rather than beading.

Plastic, being a polymer, on a micoscopic level, would have lots of surface irregularities that would collect water. Glass is smoother at a micro level, so, again, the water beads on plastic rather than sheeting on glass.

Because even really hot plastic beads water - so I'm guessing it doesn't have anything to do with specific heat or heat capacity.

Crap - I didn't mean "surface tension" - I meant what Jay first suggested, which is "surface slickness."

I have unloaded many dishwashers full of dishes in my youth, and I too noticed the wet plastics dry glass/ceramic phenomenon. But I also noticed that the glass and ceramics were still warm-to-hot when I put them away while the plastics were much cooler. So I figured that objects that retain heat well evaporate the water droplets.

I wonder sometimes if the difference between an artist and a scientist lies partially in one's satisfaction with one's own explanations for things versus a slightly different drive to find THE TRUE explanation for things.

polarity of glass and water

trying to be more clear (still might be wrong)

the polarity of the glass object spreads out the molecules rather like smearing them (adhesion)

the neutrality of plastic causes water to bead making it thicker or more to dry

Just leave everything in the dishwasher until it is all dry.

How boringly efficient [g].

*g*

Thanks to boring efficiency, I have never noticed that the plastic retains beads of water after the metal and glass are dry. Alas!

I appreciate your attention to my little domestic query about plastics and glass and water beads. I can now unload the dish drainer with a satisfied mind.

Sarah