Water
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This article is about general aspects of water. For a detailed discussion of its properties,seeProperties of water . For other uses, seeWater (disambiguation).
Water in three states: liquid, solid (ice
), and (invisible) water vapor in the air.Clouds are
the accumulations of the droplets,condensedfrom vapor-saturated air.
Water
is achemical substancethat is composed of hydrogenandoxygenand is vital for
all known forms of life.
In typical usage,
water
refers only to its liquidform or state, but the substance also has a
solidstate, ice, and agaseousstate,water vapor or steam. Water covers 71% of the
Earth's surface.
On Earth, it is found mostly in oceans and other large water bodies,with 1.6% of water below ground inaquifers and 0.001% in the air asvapor , clouds
(formed of solid and liquid water particles suspended in air), and precipitation.
Oceans hold 97% of surface water,glaciersand polar ice caps 2.4%, and other land surface water
such asrivers, lakesand ponds0.6%. A very small amount of the Earth's water is
contained within biological bodies and manufactured products.Water on Earth moves continually through acycleof evaporation or transpiration
(evapotranspiration), precipitation, andrunoff ,usually reaching thesea.Over land,
evaporation and transpiration contribute to the precipitation over land.Cleandrinking water is essential tohumanand other lifeforms. Access to safe drinking
water has improved steadily and substantially over the last decades in almost every partof the world.
However, some observers have estimated that by 2025 more than half of theworld populationwill be facing water-based vulnerability.
A recent report (November 2009) suggests that by 2030, in some developing regions of the world, water demand willexceed supply by 50%.
Water plays an important role in theworld economy, as itfunctions as asolventfor a wide variety of chemical substances and facilitates industrial
cooling and transportation. Approximately 70% of freshwater is consumed byagriculture.
Chemical and physical properties
Main articles:Water (properties), Water (data page), andWater model
Model of hydrogen bondsbetween molecules of water
Impact from a water drop causes an upward "rebound" jet surrounded by circular capillary waves.
byWilson Bentley, 1902Dewdrops adhering to aspider webCapillary actionof water compared tomercuryWater is thechemical substancewithchemical formula
H
2
O
: one moleculeof water has
twohydrogen atoms covalently bondedto a singleoxygenatom.
Water appears in nature in all three common states of matter and may take many differentforms on Earth: water vapor and clouds in the sky;seawater andicebergs in the polar
oceans;glaciers andriversin themountains; and the liquid in aquifers in the ground.
The major chemical and physical properties of water are:
•
Water is a tasteless, odorless liquid atstandard temperature and pressure. Thecolor of water and ice is, intrinsically, a very slight blue hue, although water appears colorless in small quantities. Ice also appears colorless, and water vapor isessentially invisible as a gas.
•
Water istransparent, and thusaquatic plants can live within the water because
sunlightcan reach them. Only strong UV light is slightly absorbed.
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