SCIENTIFIC VALUES OF WATER II
" If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water"
- Loren Eiseley
Previously the structure and states of water was explained in a lucid way. There is no major link between the previous article and this one but not share some similarities, it can be found only when it is read.
The word properties is quite scientific and in a daily use it don't fit well. So, properties means value. Scientifically property means the character of the material. This is done by measuring the physical and chemical traits like viscosity, surface tension, specific heat, volume, colour, smell etc. So by evaluating the parameters we are going to see whether water is a good or bad molecule.
NOTE: EVERY PROPERTY THAT IS ESTIMATED WILL HAVE A SHORT PHYSICAL NOTE ABOUT IT. PHYSICAL NOTE IN THE SCIENCE IT WILL NOT HAVE MATH. ONLY THE IMPORTANT PROPERTIES ARE DISCUSSED WHICH MAKE WATER UNIQUE.
https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/1E1C4884-DE5D-4D8E-95D2921B05A68852_source.jpg?w=590&h=800&0818000B-9723-40F3-A17AD7462EA2DBD0
The structure and different phases of water is discussed in previous article.
Density
Density is the mass of any substance confined in one meter cube of space. In a physical scene density is how close the molecules confined in a container.
Eg. A beach in summer is more dense than a beach in winter.
The density of water is really 997 Kg/meter cube. But this is only in specific temperature and volume. So the density of water is taken to be 1 gram/ centimetre cube. The density of ice is 0.9168 gram/ centimetre cube. The density of water vapor is very less i.e. 0.00045 gram/ centimetre cube.
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Density_of_water_higher_than_density_of_ice
One of the unique property of water is that ice ( solid form) floats in liquid. It is because of its internal structure (i.e.) due to the hydrogen bonding, as due to less temperature the hydrogen bonds become permanent thus not allowing the molecules to come more closer. From the experiments we can see that, it only for water the density decreases as the temperature increases. In is at 4 degree Celsius the density of water is the maximum. This expectation of water is very unique in scientific world,it is because of this property the water living organisms like fish etc are able to maintain their life in cold regions. Water is less dense as a solid, than as a liquid, which is why ice floats. So water acts like a good thermal insulator as the dense water will sink down thus keeping the temperature constant.
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/introchem/chapter/volume-and-density/
Miscibility and solubility
This is the measure of how much liquid is able to mix with other liquid chemically and physically. Water is soluble with a large number of other liquids and solids like (salt and sugar). This is because of the polar nature and ability to form hydrogen bonds of the water. A polar molecule is one that's neutral, or uncharged, but has an asymmetric internal distribution of charge, leading to partially positive and partially negative regions. So water is soluble in all polar liquid but it is not soluble in oils as they are non- polar molecules.Because of its polarity, water can form electrostatic interactions (charge-based attractions) with other polar molecules and ions. The polar molecules and ions interact with the partially positive and partially negative ends of water, with positive charges attracting negative charges (just like the + and - ends of magnets). When there are many water molecules relative to solute molecules, as in an aqueous solution, these interactions lead to the formation of a three-dimensional sphere of water molecules, or hydration shell, around the solute. Hydration shells allow particles to be dispersed (spread out) evenly in water.
http://azizyardimli.com/biofelsefe/bio_felsefe_SU.html
Melting and boiling point
Melting point of ice is 0 degree Celsius and boiling point of water id 100 degree Celsius at room temperature ( 27 degree Celsius) . This is a very unique property in the scientific community. From this the basic temperature measuring scale is fixed, even though kelvin is the official measurement we most commonly use Celsius.
Specific heat capacity
Physically specific heat is the amount of heat given to 1 kg of the substance to increase the temperature by one degree Celsius.
The specific heat capacity of water is 4184 joule per kelvin kg, which is the highest of any material. For example the specific heat of iron is 500 joule per kelvin kg. It is because water is made up of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, is electronegative. An electronegative atom is more likely to draw electrons to itself, because one side of the atom will have a partially positive charge and the other will have a partially negative charge. The opposite-charged sides are naturally drawn to one another, forming a weaker hydrogen bond. That’s why water is able to flow past itself, but also bond together—it’s constantly forming and breaking these bonds. These bonds are also why liquid water has a high specific heat. Any energy put toward heating water is split between breaking the bonds and heating the water. Because of this, it takes more energy to heat water than it does other substances.
This can be felt in a beach, the sand will be more hotter than the sea water. Even while heating water in a gas stove the container will become hot first and the the water will become hot.
So water helps with regulating temperature in the environment. For example, this property allows the temperature of water in a pond to stay relatively constant from day to night, regardless of the changing atmospheric temperature.
https://slideplayer.com/slide/10907744/
Electromagnetic absorption
Electromagnetic waves are all the waves which do not require a medium to travel. On of the best example is the radio wave which are used to revive signals. Both electric and magnetic fields oscillate in sync, there are many types of electromagnetic waves base don their speed of oscillation and their length. the weakest electromagnetic radiation is radio waves and the strongest are gama waves ( by which Bruce Banner aka Hulk got affected). with a very short range there is visible light. Water as gas and liquid has the unique property of absorbing some range of radiation.
The absorption in the gas phase occurs in three regions of the spectrum. Rotational transitions are responsible for absorption in the microwave and far-infrared, vibrational transitions in the mid-infrared and near-infrared and electronic transitions which occur in vacuum ultraviolet range.Liquid water has no rotational spectrum but does absorb in the microwave region. Its weak absorption in the visible spectrum results in the pale blue color of water. This property of water to absorb the electromagnetic spectrum has some serious atmospheric effects.
Water vapor is a greenhouse gas in the Earth's atmosphere, responsible for 70% of the known absorption of incoming sunlight, particularly in the infrared region, and about 60% of the atmospheric absorption of thermal radiation by the Earth known as the greenhouse effect.Liquid water and ice emit radiation at a higher rate than water vapor (see graph above). Water at the top of the troposphere, particularly in liquid and solid states, cools as it emits net photons to space. Neighboring gas molecules other than water e.g. Nitrogen are cooled by passing their heat kinetically to the water. This is why temperatures at the top of the troposphere are about -50 degrees Celsius.Microwave ovens take advantage of water's opacity to microwave radiation to heat the water inside of foods. Water's light blue colour is caused by weak absorption in the red part of the visible spectrum.
Cohesion and adhesion
Cohesion is the boding of similar objects and adhesion is the bonding of dissimilar materials.
Water molecules stay close to each other (cohesion), due to the collective action of hydrogen bonds between water molecules. These hydrogen bonds are constantly breaking, with new bonds being formed with different water molecules; but at any given time in a sample of liquid water, a large portion of the molecules are held together by such bonds. Water also has high adhesion properties because of its polar nature. On clean, smooth glass the water may form a thin film because the molecular forces between glass and water molecules (adhesive forces) are stronger than the cohesive forces. This has many use in the concept of capillary rise, surface tension and in biological process.
https://ib.bioninja.com.au/_Media/water-cohesion-and-adhesion_med.jpeg
https://ib.bioninja.com.au/standard-level/topic-2-molecular-biology/22-water/cohesive-and-adhesive-prope.html
https://newsela.com/read/lib-experiment-water-properties/id/37801/
Surface tension and capillary action
Surface tension is the property of of any liquid to act as a stretched membrane at the surface thus reducing the surface are of liquid little less than the surface area of the container's cross-sectional surface area.
Capillary or capillary action is the ability of the liquid to flow through a narrow tube or space without the assistance of any external force and opposing the other external force like gravity. This action can be seen in many place from plants drawing water from ground to liquid between the hairs of paint brush. Why this happens? When the diameter of the tube is small enough( Like smaller than the the diameter of hair i.e. 0.00011 m ) ,then the surface tension of the liquid and the inter-molecular of the liquid and the adhesive force (tendency of dissimilar surface or particles to stick together) between the walls of the tube and the liquid try to propel the liquid.
Water has the highest surface tension i.e. 71 mN/m, which is unique of water. This is due to the hydrogen boding in the water. This property allows the small insects like water sliders and group of ants to walk on the water. This surface tension cause the spherical shape of a water droplet of a bubble.Because water has strong cohesive and adhesive forces, it exhibits capillary action. Strong cohesion from hydrogen bonding and adhesion allows trees to transport water more than 100 m upward and in general capillary action has many biological importance.
A coin floating on water due to the surface tension of water.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Surface_tension_-_Japanese_1_Yen_alminium_coin_on_water.jpg
Capillary action of water in trees
https://istudy.pk/cohesion-tension-theory/
Smell, color and taste of water
Water do not have the above properties which makes water nearly invisible. As water is a good solvent in reality water is not pure,some amount of impurities are dissolve din it which gives them a taste and smell.The color of pure water is pale blue it is very light.water blueness comes from the water molecules absorbing the red end of the spectrum of visible light. To be even more detailed, the absorption of light in water is due to the way the atoms vibrate and absorb different wavelengths of light and it is not due to the scatting of light.
Conclusion
From the above studies we can see than water is scientifically an important component. Due to is unique property of hydrogen bonding and the electronegative of oxygen atom makes water a magical component. It is important for us to know the things around us and this is a small step in it.
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Hope this article was useful and I hope you learnt something from it.
If you have any theories or questions regarding this you are free to express them in comments or you can chat with me in my Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/phy.sci/?hl=en.
For previous articles on this follow the following link
W4: https://jjohnpaul.blogspot.com/2021/05/w4-structure-and-states-of-water.html
W3: https://jjohnpaul.blogspot.com/2021/05/w3-mythological-stories-about-creation.html#more
W2: https://jjohnpaul.blogspot.com/2021/05/w2-scientific-exploration-of-origins-of.html
W1: https://jjohnpaul.blogspot.com/2021/05/w1clear-liquid-aka-water.html
