Water: The Liquid of Life

What is Water?

Water, a compound made up of hydrogen and oxygen elements, can exist as a gas, liquid, or solid. It's abundantly available and vital. This tasteless, odorless liquid is capable of dissolving numerous substances, making it a crucial solvent for living organisms. The origin of life is thought to be in the watery environments of
Earth's oceans, and organisms rely on aqueous solutions, like blood and digestive fluids, for vital biological processes. Water isn't exclusive to our planet; it's found on other celestial bodies within and beyond our solar system. In small amounts, water seems colorless, but it possesses a subtle blue hue due to its slight absorption of red light.

Structure of Water

Water is a simple molecule consisting of one oxygen atom bonded to two different hydrogen atoms. Because of the higher electronegativity of the oxygen atom, the bonds are polar covalent (polar bonds). The oxygen atom attracts the shared electrons of the covalent bonds to a significantly greater extent than the hydrogen atoms. As a result, the oxygen atom acquires a slightly negative charge (δ-), while the hydrogen atoms each acquire a slightly positive charge (δ+). The molecule adopts a bent structure because of the two lone pairs of electrons on the oxygen atom.

The water molecule is visualized in three different ways: ball-and-stick model, space-filling model, 

and structural formula with slight charges.

The water molecule has a bent shape because of the repulsion between its two lone pairs of electrons on the oxygen atom, causing the molecule to adopt a V-shaped configuration. This bent shape is important because it leads to the molecule's polarity, enabling its strong hydrogen bonding abilities, and making water an excellent solvent and a crucial component for various biological and chemical processes.

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Properties of Water

Water is an essential component of our daily lives, an element necessary to our survival and well-being, as well as our health. It is the source of all life and is essential for many human activities, from agriculture to industry. It is also a key factor in maintaining a balanced environment and preserving natural resources. The purpose of this article is to discuss and analyze the many benefits water offers us, as well as the unique properties and structure of water that distinguish it as such an important part of our diet.

Section 1: Cohesion

Have you ever filled a glass of water to the very top and then slowly added a few more drops? Before it overflows, the water forms a dome-like shape above the rim of the glass. This dome-like shape forms due to the water molecules’ cohesive properties, or their tendency to stick to one another. Cohesion refers to the attraction of molecules for other molecules of the same kind, and water molecules have strong cohesive forces thanks to their ability to form hydrogen bonds with one another.

Cohesive forces are responsible for surface tension, a phenomenon that results in the tendency of a liquid’s surface to resist rupture when placed under tension or stress. Water molecules at the surface (at the water-air interface) will form hydrogen bonds with their neighbors, just like water molecules deeper within the liquid. However, because they are exposed to air on one side, they will have fewer neighboring water molecules to bond with, and will form stronger bonds with the neighbors they do have. Surface tension causes water to form spherical droplets and allows it to support small objects, like a scrap of paper or a needle, if they are placed carefully on its surface.

Section 2: Adhesion

Water likes to stick to itself, but under certain circumstances, it actually prefers to stick to other types of molecules. Adhesion is the attraction of molecules of one kind for molecules of a different kind, and it can be quite strong for water, especially with other molecules bearing positive or negative charges.

For instance, adhesion enables water to “climb” upwards through thin glass tubes (called capillary tubes) placed in a beaker of water. This upward motion against gravity, known as capillary action, depends on the attraction between water molecules and the glass walls of the tube (adhesion), as well as on interactions between water molecules (cohesion).

The water molecules are more strongly attracted to the glass than they are to other water molecules (because glass molecules are even more polar than water molecules). You can see this by looking at the image below: the water extends highest where it contacts the edges of the tube, and dips lowest in the middle. The curved surface formed by a liquid in a cylinder or tube is called a meniscus.

Section 3: Capillary Action

Capillary action can be defined as the ascension of liquids through the slim tube, cylinder, or permeable substance due to adhesive and cohesive forces interacting between the liquid and the surface. When the intermolecular bonding of a liquid itself is substantially inferior to a substance’s surface it is interacting, capillarity occurs. Also, the diameter of the container as well as the gravitational forces will determine the amount of liquid raised. While, water possesses this unique property, a liquid like mercury will not display the same attributes since it has a higher cohesive force than adhesive force.

For example, if you place a clear straw into a glass of water, you will see the water level inside the straw is higher. This happens due to the attraction of the water molecules to the molecules of the solid straw. Likewise, if you dip a paper towel into water it will soak up the liquid. Again, this is because water molecules like to stick to each other and flow between materials that are closely packed together.

--> Forces in Capillary Action:

Three main variables that determine whether a liquid possesses capillary action are:

• Cohesion: It is the intermolecular bonding of a substance where its mutual attractiveness forces them to maintain a certain shape of the liquid.

• Surface tension: This occurs as a result of like molecules, cohesive forces, banding together to form a somewhat impenetrable surface on the body of water. The surface tension is measured in Newton/meter.

• Adhesion: When forces of attraction between unlike molecules occur, it is called adhesive forces.

Capillary action only occurs when the adhesive forces are stronger than the cohesive forces, which invariably becomes surface tension, in the liquid.

--> Benefits of Capillary Action

Without capillary action trees and plants wouldn’t grow, our tears wouldn’t clean our eyes, and towels and paper cloths wouldn’t work. Think about putting flowers in a vase of water. The stems use capillary action to draw the moisture upwards. Without it, the flowers would wilt and die much sooner.

Section 4: Universal Solvent

Water is often referred to as the universal solvent due to its exceptional ability to dissolve a wide range of substances. This property stems from water's polar nature, with positive and negative charges attracting and separating ions and molecules. The dissolution of vital nutrients, minerals, and gases in water enables life processes to occur, making water an essential component for all living organisms. 

Section 5: High Surface Tension

High surface tension is the energy, or work, required to increase the surface area of a liquid due to intermolecular forces. Since these intermolecular forces vary depending on the nature of the liquid (e.g. water vs. gasoline) or solutes in the liquid (e.g. surfactants like detergent), each solution exhibits differing surface tension properties. Whether you know it or not, you already have seen surface tension at work. Whenever you fill a glass of water too far, you may notice afterward that the level of the water in the glass is actually higher than the height of the glass. You may have also noticed that the water that you spilled has formed into pools that rise up off the counter. Both of these phenomena are due to surface tension. The water molecules attract one another due to the water's polar properties. The hydrogen ends, which are positive in comparison to the negative ends of the oxygen cause water to "stick" together. 

Section 6: Ice Floats

Ice always floats because it is less dense than regular water. Because frozen water molecules form a crystal, they take up more space and lower density than regular liquid water. But keep in mind that ice might not always float in other fluids, like air, alcohol, etc.

Ice floats on top of water because it has a lower density. Density is a substance's mass per unit volume. Because ice crystals take up more space than liquid water, they have a higher volume and a lower density.

Ice is less dense than water because of the arrangement of the water molecules. As a liquid, water molecules pack together in a random arrangement. But as a solid, ice forms a crystal, with each molecule arranged in a grid-like pattern. This crystal actually takes up more space and has a higher volume and lower density, than liquid water.

Section 7: High Heat Capacity

Water has a high specific heat capacity—it absorbs a lot of heat before it begins to get hot. You may not know how that affects you, but the specific heat of water has a huge role to play in the Earth's climate and helps determine the habitability of many places around the globe.

Why should I drink water?

Getting enough water every day is important for your health. Drinking water can prevent dehydration, a condition that can cause unclear thinking, result in mood change, cause your body to overheat, and lead to constipation and kidney stones. Water has no calories, so it can also help with managing body weight and reducing calorie intake when substituted for drinks with calories, such as sweet tea or regular soda.

Water helps your body:

• Keep a normal temperature.
  
• Lubricate and cushion joints.
• Protect your spinal cord and other sensitive tissues.
• Get rid of wastes through urination, perspiration, and bowel movements.

Your body needs more water when you are:

• In hot climates.
• More physically active.
• Running a fever.
• Having diarrhea or vomiting.

How much water should I drink?

The amount of water you should drink varies depending on your activity level, health conditions, height and weight, gender, and other factors.

• 
  It’s recommended that men drink 13 cups (about 3 liters) of water each day.
• Women are recommended to drink 9 cups (just over 2 liters) of water each day. Pregnant women should drink 10 cups of water daily, and breastfeeding women should drink 12 cups.
• Kids and teens should drink 6 to 8 cups of water a day. Again, this all depends on activity level, age, weight, etc.
  
  
  
  Eating fresh fruits and vegetables that are full of water helps with this daily water intake as well. For guidelines specific to you, ask your doctor or dietitian what they recommend.

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Resources:

Cohesion

Adhesion

Capillary Action
Universal Solvent
High Specific Heat
Ice Floats
High Surface Tension
Water Benefits
Recommended Water Intake

Conclusion

In conclusion, water's unique characteristics, like its ability to dissolve substances and its special way of holding onto heat, make it essential for life on Earth. It shapes our world and supports all living things. By learning more about how water works, we can better appreciate the importance of conserving this precious resource. Understanding water's secrets reminds us of our duty to protect it for the future.

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