~~~~Mister E's Mystery Pages~~~~
The Wonderful Mystery of WATER
Probably the Most Intricate and Miraculous Substance
In The ENTIRE Universe
~~ THE MYSTERY OF THE HYDROGEN BOND ~~
Life Itself Depends on the Hyrdrogen Bond Present in Water.
Without it :
........................................1.-Water Wouldn't Be Liquid
........................................2.-Our Blood Could Not Flow
........................................3.-Capillary Action Would Not Feed the Plants
........................................4.-Rain Would Not Occur
........................................5.-Ice Wouldn't Float at the Poles
........................................6.-Dew Would Not Form on Plants
........................................7.-Steam Wouldn't Happen (with it's incredible power)
Ok, Let's Look at These Items.
First of all, if Item #1 were True, ALL the Others Would Also Be True
And Life Would NOT EXIST ! !
If Water Wasn't LIQUID, The Whole Earth Would Be a Clump of Solid Materials, And Nothing Could Move.
Now, You Might Say , "Well, Of Course, Dummy!" "That's Like Saying if Air wasn't Air, or if a Rock weren't a Rock!" "Of Course Water is Liquid, that's what Water IS ! . . . . .
It's a Liquid!"
Well, I would beg to pardon my Uneducated Protestor.
For Air is Air, and a Rock is a Rock, But Water is NOT a Liquid.
It is a GAS. It is 2 Gasses Actually.
And No Other Gaseous Compound on Earth is a Liquid !
(at average earth temperature, and average earth atmospheric pressure)
Water is LIQUID at the temperatures that we usually see it at
BECAUSE OF THE HYDROGEN BOND ! ! !
And it is ALSO the HYDROGEN BOND that Allows Items 2 thru 7 to Occur.
Ah ! Now We're Getting Somewhere !
~~~~~~~~~~~ THE SECRET OF THE HYDROGEN BOND ~~~~~~~~~~~
Ok ~ Water is H2-O, We ALL Know that. We learn it in school.
Two Molecules of Hydrogen, and One Molecule of Oxygen .
And HERE is where it gets interesting ~ ~ ~ ~
Due to the Laws of Atomic Structure, Oxygen has 6 Electrons in its Outer Shell, but the Outer Shell can contain Eight. So the Oxygen Atom Needs 2 Electrons to make the Atom Stable, filling the Shell to Eight.
This is Where the 2 Atoms of Hydrogen Step in to Make H2-O !
(for an explanation of Atomic Structure, click here)
The Hydrogen Aom is Nothing But One Electron and One Proton stuck together. The Simplest Atom in the Universe. But This Structure makes Hydrogen an UNSTABLE atom because Electrons Move Readily
(Electricity is basically Electrons in Motion)
seeking to stablize, and only one Proton is holding the Hydrogen Electron.
So, since Oxygen's outer shell needs 2 electrons to fill it, when 2 Hydrogen atoms come near, with their 2 Electrons seeking to stablize, the 2 Hydrogen Electrons are attracted to the 2 Vacancies in the Oxygen Outer Shell, Causing the 2 Hydrogen Atoms TO SHARE THEIR SINGLE ELECTRON WITH THE 1 Oxygen Atom and Voila !
The Water Molecule is Formed.
This is What's Known as a Covalent Chemical Bond.
NOW HERE IS WHERE IT GET'S INTERESTING
IN ADDITION TO THE COVALENT BOND THAT CREATES THE WATER MOLECULE, THERE IS THE UNIQUE BOND KNOWN AS THE HYDROGEN BOND THAT MAKES WATER THE CLINGY LIQUID THAT IT IS, AND SUPPORTS LIFE WITH CAPILLARY ACTION
The Hydrogen Bond is not an ordinary Chemical Bond, Like Most Ionic Bonds or the Covalent Bonds, found in Most Molecules. In a covalent bond electrons are shared between atoms. In water the sharing is not equal. The oxygen atom attracts the electrons more strongly than the hydrogen(because hydrogen just has the single proton to hold the single electron), giving water an asymmetrical distribution of charge. This Creates What is Called a POLAR MOLECULE (having a positive and a negative pole like a magnet), and in the case of Water, the Two Hydrogen atoms end up being the positively charged side of the "magnet", Causing the Hydrogen atoms to "Cling" Magnetically to the Oxygen side of other Water Molecules nearby, AND TO ANY OTHER NEUTRALLY CHARGED OR NEGATIVELY CHARGED ATOM IN THE VACINITY ----------
THIS "MAGNETIC" HYDROGEN BOND IS MUCH WEAKER THAN THE COVALENT AND IONIC BONDS HOLDING MOLECULES TOGETHER, SO THE HYDROGEN BONDS DISCONNECT AND RECONNECT READILY AND FREQUENTLY, CAUSING BOTH THE LIQUIDITY OF WATER AT ROOM TEMPERATURE, AND IT'S "CLINGYNESS" THAT RESULTS IN SURFACE TENSION AND THE CAPILLARY ACTION WHICH SUPPORTS ALL LIFE.
AND THAT IS THE SECRET TO WATER ! ! ! !
The Molecules Cling Together, But TENUOUSLY, and Consequently Slip and Slide, Falling Apart and Re-Attaching QUITE EASILY.
THAT IS WHAT MAKES WATER LIQUID AT ROOM TEMPERATURE ! !
The Molecules Cling Together More Closely Than The Gasses That They Are Made From, But Are Not Bonded Strongly Enough to Give Rigidity.
So It's the Fact that Hydrogen Has Only One Lonely Electron (the First Shell Can Contain 2, which would make it Stable) Whizzing By Itself in the Outer Shell, Looking for Somewhere to Connect it, That Makes it Combine with Oxygen to Form Water.
And this Lonely Electron, attracted so strongly by the huge in comparison Oxygen atom , is sucked into the outer orbit of the Oxygen shell while still orbiting the Hydrogen proton. That Hydrogen proton, having some of it's balance pulled away, now manifests more of it's positive charge to other atoms. Which causes it to magnetically "cling" to almost every other atom in the world, including the Oxygen atom in other water molecules. This Gives Water it's Surface Tension, and it's slippery liquidity.
The Same positively charged Hydrogen atom, also Causes our Blood to Flow.
It Also Causes Water to be Sucked up Into Plants, From Their Root to Their Leaves.
Next, Let's Look at Blood Flow ~ ~
CAPILLARY ACTION - THE MECHANICS OF PLANT AND ANIMAL LIFE
More Coming VERY Soon !
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