AbstractThe concept of the equilibration of surface states in contact is examined by the measurement of the contact electrification and separation currents, and applied to the investigation of the evolution of the surface state due to a change of contacting medium (from air to water) by following the surface concentration (by ESCA) of labeling atoms (F), which were incorporated by a low temperature plasma (of CF4), as a function of water immersion time and temperature. The kinetic rate constants for such changes of surface configuration follow a typical Arrhenius plot, which shows a conspicuous break at a surface transition temperature Ts. Ts's observed against air coincide with the glass transition temperature Tg's of the corresponding polymers. Ts's observed against water, however, are found to be independent of Tgand consistently near 15 °C, which coincides with the major Drost‐Hansen temperature of vicinal water. The surface state of water is the dominant factor in this ca