In a recent paper [R. Finn, Phys. Fluids 18, 047102 (2006)] the
attention has been drawn on the tension component perpendicular to the
solid surface that results from Young's law. Considering the problem of
a solid sphere floating in zero gravity, it has been argued that this
component yields a spurious net vertical force acting on the sphere,
which remains unbalanced. Therefore, the validity of Young's law has
been questioned in favor of an energy argument. The scope of this Brief
Communication is to restate the equivalence between the energy and the
force descriptions of the problem. It is shown that there is no
contradiction in Young's law if one accounts for the different stress
acting on the solid surface in the two fluids. The net force resulting
from the latter balances the force resultant associated with the
tension component perpendicular to the solid. (C) 2007 American
Institute of Physics.