Properties of Water

Follow the links below to access a videos that deal with the properties of water.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jwAGWky98c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVT3Y3_gHGg

The main properties of water are its polarity, cohesion, adhesion, surface tension, high specific
heat, and evaporative cooling.
Polarity
A water molecule is slightly charged on both ends. This is because oxygen is more
electronegative than hydrogen.

Cohesion
Hydrogen bonds hold water molecules together, as seen in the picture above. Cohesion
creates surface tension which is why if you fill a spoon with water, drop by drop, the water
volume will actually be bigger than the spoon's surface before the water falls off.

Adhesion
Similar to cohesion, but adhesion is when the hydrogen bonds in water allow for the water
molecules to be held to another substance.

High Specific Heat

Specific heat is amount of heat absorbed or lost for 1g to change 1ºC, which in the case of water,
is pretty high. This allows for evaporative cooling to occur, which is when heat energy is
transferred to water molecules , and evaporating water removes a lot of heat energy from an
organism (eg. when we sweat)

Other important characteristics of water involve it being a universal solvent, along with its
unusual density. Water, unlike any other solid-liquid, is more dense in its liquid form than as a
solid, which is why ice floats, and this allows for entire habitats to exist underneath layers of ice
floating on oceans. Its neutral pH (7) is also a relevant characteristic.