Why is the pavement wet?

Puzzling Asked on February 13, 2021

Saw this the other day. So I took this picture. There was another nearly identical wet patch 2 spaces away.

Note: This is a straight forward physics puzzle. This is a ordinary parking lot with ordinary / usual interactions.

Note: Matthew Jensen’s answer was quite reasonable, however, in this case, no car was present in that parking spot during or after the rain.

physics real visual

11 Answers

@MatthewJensen has provided a very reasonable possible explanation. The OP has however indicated that the car left the parking spot before the rain. This prompts the consideration of an alternative mechanism:

In fact, if we constrain ourselves to inside-the-box thinking in a car-in-the-rain situation and approach this as a physics problem, these two timelines (or some combination of them) seem to be the only ones possible:

Without such tight constraints on possible solutions, the open-ended explanations for a rectangular wet area on asphalt are essentially infinite. These include:

Correct answer by Anon on February 13, 2021

I believe it's because

Answered by Matthew Jensen on February 13, 2021

I would say

Answered by QBrute on February 13, 2021

Perhaps

Answered by Dmitry Kamenetsky on February 13, 2021

Here's my explanation

Answered by chasly - supports Monica on February 13, 2021

I think this is because

Answered by FoFoCuddlyPoops on February 13, 2021

Another idea:

Answered by puzz_aldrin on February 13, 2021

Answered by Darrel Hoffman on February 13, 2021

One more rain-related possibility:

Answered by Josh on February 13, 2021

Answered by Tae Soo Kim on February 13, 2021

If this was posted in Britain, it would be a trick question: Pavement implies paving stones, and the only paved zone there is the drainage, which collects the rain. Roads haven't been paved since roman times? Sidewalks are often made of pavement. Roads are made of tarmac :) The cars appear to be European, which is confusing, because Europeans use the logical etymology, i.e. pavé is a slab. There are no slabs/pavements visible in the photo other than the curb.

If here was no car before or after the rain, and there was rain and it's not dew, I'd suggest that a car was parked there for a long time which allowed a lot of dust and organic residue to gather under it while the other zones were scoured by rain. The dust has stayed for a few weeks, enough so that it makes a difference in water or dew retention on cold mornings or when it rains.

Answered by aliential on February 13, 2021

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