Water and its Properties

Water is commonly referred to as H2O or dihydrogen oxide among scientists. Water is a polar molecule, meaning it acts similar to a magnet. There is a slightly positive charge at the ends of the hydrogen atoms and a slight negative at the end of the oxygen atom. These slight changes are what cause water molecules to be attracted to each other. This leads to a property of water called cohesion.

Simply put, water molecules stick together. For example, if you drop two water droplets on a coin, they merge into a larger drop of water. Say you drop more water while making sure not to it does not overflow. The acting property of water in this case is called adhesion. Adhesion is the attraction of water to other surfaces. In this case, the water is attracted to the coin, which does not cause it to flow off the coin.

Another important property is that the density of water is less than the density of ice. The density of water as a solid (ice) is less than water in its liquid form. Let us take a real-world example. If fish lived in a lake in a frigid area and the lake started to freeze, how would the fish be alive? It is because liquid water is less dense than the ice. If the ice had sunk to the bottom, the water in the whole lake would freeze, leading to all the fish dying. Using the same lake but on a scorching day, the water does not evaporate. Why? This is because the boiling point of water is much higher compared to other substances. Water can absorb significantly more heat, which leads to it being able to keep its liquid state at higher temperatures. If it had a low boiling point, it would evaporate, and the fish would be left without and cease to exist. Another crucial property of water to all life is that it is the universal solvent. This means basically water can dissolve the greatest number of substances. One great example is the kidney. If too much waste accumulates, it causes the kidney to be clogged, and surgery is needed. However, thanks to water being able to dissolve the waste, the materials are easily moved out of the human body. I hope you learned a lot about water and how it applies significantly to all life.

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