Properties of Water

BY PAGE MARSHALL

Water Structure
Water (H2O) is often perceived to be ordinary as it is transparent, odorless, tasteless and ubiquitous. It is the simplest compound of the two most common reactive elements, consisting of just two hydrogen atoms attached to a single oxygen atom. Indeed, very few molecules are smaller or lighter. Liquid water, however, is the most extraordinary substance.

The unequal sharing of electrons and waters V-like shape make it a polar molecule, meaning that its overall charge is unevenly distributed: The oxygen region of the molecule has a partial negative charge, and each hydrogen has a partial positive charge.

High Specific Heat

Specific Heat: the amount of heat that must be absorbed or lost for 1 g of that

substance to change its temperature by 1C. The specific heat of water is 1 calorie per gram per degree Celsius

What is the relevance of waters high specific heat to life on Earth? A large body

of water can absorb and store a huge amount of heat from the sun in the daytime and during summer while warming up on a few degrees. At night and during winter, the gradually cooling water can warm the air.

Cohesion
A molecular attraction by which the particles of a body are united throughout

the mass, (water is attracted to water). Cohesion due to hydrogen bonding contributes to the transport of water and dissolved nutrients against gravity in plants.

Water from roots reaches the leaves through a network of water-conducting cells. As water evaporates from a leaf, hydrogen bonds cause water molecules leaving the veins to tug on molecules farther down, and the upward pull is transmitted through the water-conducting cells all the way to the roots.

Adhesion
The tendency of dissimilar particles or surfaces to cling to one another, (water

molecules to other substances). Causes for a wide range of molecules for water to cling onto When a liquid flows through a narrow space, the cohesive and adhesive forces act together to lift it against the natural force of gravity.

If you touch the edge of a paper towel to a drop of colored water, the water will move up into (or be absorbed by) the towel.

Heat of Vaporization
The quantity of heat a liquid must absorb for 1 g of it to be converted from the

liquid to the gaseous state. To evaporate 1 g of water at 25C, about 580 cal of heat is needed- nearly double the amount needed to vaporize a gram of alcohol, for example. Waters high heat of vaporization is another property emerging from the strength of its hydrogen bonds, which must be broken before the molecules can make the exodus from the liquid.

Sweating and the evaporation of sweat from the body surface help reduce a humans body temperature.

Density
Water is most common in it's liquid state when it is kept a normal pressure and

between 0 degree Celsius and 100 degree Celsius. Water turns to ice as it's solid state from 0 degrees Celsius and below. Water turns into steam from 100 degrees and above. Water never has an absolute density because its density varies with temperature.

A bottle contains a liquid mixture of equal parts water and mineral oil. You shake the bottle vigorously and then set it on the table. Although the law of entropy favors maximum randomness, this mixture separates into layers of oil over water.

Picture Sources
http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/adhesion.html http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/adhesion.html http://scienceprojectideasforkids.com/2010/cohesionn-surface-tension/ http://www.diffen.com/difference/Adhesion_vs_Cohesion http://www.tradebit.com/filedetail.php/106147537v6872149-

demonstration-of-capillary-action-capillarity-experiment-with http://www.kentchemistry.com/links/Energy/HeatVaporization.htm
http://www.csiro.au/helix/sciencemail/activities/DensityCollumn.html http://www.inquiryinaction.org/chemistryreview/density/

Bibliography

"Adhesion

vs Cohesion." - Difference and Comparison. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2013. Website

Campbell, Neil A. Biology. San Francisco: Pearson/Benjamin-Cummings, 2005. Print. Book "Heat of Fusion." Phase Changes. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2013. Website "Water Density." (water Properties), USGS Water Science School. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2013. Website "What Are the Advantages of High Specific Heat Capacity of Water?" What Are the Advantages of High Specific Heat Capacity of Water? N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2013.