The most mysterious substance: what do we know about water?
April 20, 2018 | 09:52 |2710
Water, until recently the simplest, “elementary” substance, in recent years, as it is being thoroughly studied, becomes more and more mysterious and “miraculous”. As of today, about forty kinds of water, which differ from each other in physical and chemical properties, have been discovered. However, the science is still far away from the solution of all its secrets. ORIENT offers readers to consider only a small part of the amazing properties of water. Many substances have to be super-heated or -cooled to change states. Substances are cooled in series, and the water is compressed to a temperature of +4 degrees Celsius, and at temperatures below +4 degrees, the water begins to expand and harden. Water is somewhat unique as it is one of the very few materials (among antimony, bismuth, gallium and germanium) that increases in volume as it freezes. Warm water is less dense than cold water. Because of this, warm water floats on the surface of lakes, rivers and the oceans insulating the main portion of the water bodies from being over-heated by the sun and from killing its living organisms. In combination with its anomalously poor conductivity, the floating warm water insulates water bodies and living organisms against excessive heating. By expanding in volume, the density of water in it solid state is lower than it is in its liquid state. This gives ice the ability to float. This simple fact alone has significant implications. The fact that ice is less dense than liquid water means that when the top of a lake freezes, it can actually insulate the rest of the water from freezing. This ice shield allows for life, and many chemical reactions, to continue to occur throughout the winter season. It is known that in accordance with the law of universal gravitation, water flows only downward. Then how does water to climb to the tops of the highest trees? It is very simple – by capillaries, due to surface tension. Because of the polarity, water molecules are strongly attracted to one another, which gives water a high surface tension. The molecules at the surface of the water “stick together” to form a type of ‘skin’ on the water, strong enough to support very light objects. Insects that walk on water are taking advantage of this surface tension. Surface tension causes water to clump in drops rather than spreading out in a thin layer. It also allows water to move through plant roots and stems and the smallest blood vessels in your body – as one molecule moves up the tree root or through the capillary, it ‘pulls’ the others with it. This property belongs only to water. No other liquids have such a large surface tension coefficient.Muhtar ALIYEV
It is seen that the leaves of ornamental shrubs along the streets of our cities, even in the frostiest days, are green. It would seem that the water in the plant cells should freeze, and the formed ice crystals must break the living cells. However, it does not happen. The ice crystals not freeze due to the water ability to repeatedly increase its viscosity, which protects it from glaciation. This viscous state, after liquid, solid and gas, is the fourth state of water (by the way, there are 5 forms of water in liquid state and 14 – in solid state).
The water has a strong ability to resist changes in temperatures. Water has the remarkable ability to absorb or release relatively large amounts heat energy without actually changing temperature very much. Thanks to this, the water of the oceans, heated in the equatorial zones, is transported by the sea current thousands of kilometers and heals entire continents. The specific heat of water is much higher than many of the other substances that we use every day. This makes it the ideal substance to cool power plants, maintain homeostasis within our bodies, and protect the Earth from wild daily and seasonal temperature changes.
Finally, about heavy water. There is a hypothesis that water originated inside our red-hot planet in the initial phase of its formation. At a temperature of millions of degrees and colossal pressure, the hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms were combined in the proportion of H2O and broke into the atmosphere together with other gases as a water vapor.
Thus, if the combination of hydrogen and oxygen atoms and their conversion into water occurs with colossal energy consumption, how much energy will be released when these atoms are separated?
This is roughly the case with the explosion of a hydrogen bomb – the decay of heavy “deuterium” water. So far, scientists cannot manage this thermonuclear process. Nevertheless, they will find solution, sooner or later. Then the problem of energy on Earth will be solved completely. After all, the barrel of water, according to scientists, contains the amount of energy equal to the annual output of a large power plant.
Thus, a simple connection of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, existing almost as long as the planet of Earth itself, still remains a mysterious, miraculous, and little-studied substance. Moreover, a millennium later, the water will be able to surprise a man creature with unexpected properties and fantastic ways of its using.
