Properties of water

Water (H2O)
IUPAC name Water Oxidane
Other names Hydrogen oxide Dihydrogen monoxide Hydrogen monoxide Hydroxylic acid Hydrogen hydroxide R-718 Oxygen (di-)hydride
Identifiers
CAS number	7732-18-5 Y
PubChem	962
ChemSpider	937
UNII	059QF0KO0R
ChEBI	15377
RTECS number	ZC0110000
Properties
Molecular formula	H2O
Molar mass	18.01528(33) g/mol
Appearance	white solid or almost colorless, transparent, with a slight hint of blue, crystalline solid or liquid [1]
Density	1000 kg/m3, liquid (4 °C) (62.4 lb/cu. ft) 917 kg/m3, solid
Melting point	0 °C, 32 °F (273.15 K)[2]
Boiling point	99.98 °C, 212 °F (373.13 K)[2]
Acidity (pKa)	15.74 ~35–36
Basicity (pKb)	15.74
Refractive index (nD)	1.3330
Viscosity	0.001 Pa s at 20 °C
Structure
Crystal structure	Hexagonal
Molecular shape	Bent
Dipole moment	1.85 D
Hazards
Main hazards	Drowning (see also Dihydrogen monoxide hoax)
NFPA 704	0 0 0
Related compounds
Other cations	Hydrogen sulfide Hydrogen selenide Hydrogen telluride Hydrogen polonide Hydrogen peroxide
Related solvents	acetone methanol
Related compounds	water vapor ice heavy water
Y (what is this?)  (verify) Except where noted otherwise, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C, 100 kPa)
Infobox references

Water (H₂O) is the most abundant compound on Earth's surface, constituting about 70% of the planet's surface. In nature it exists in liquid, solid, and gaseous states. It is in dynamic equilibrium between the liquid and gas states at standard temperature and pressure. At room temperature, it is a nearly colorless with a hint of blue, tasteless, and odorless liquid. Many substances dissolve in water and it is commonly referred to as the universal solvent. Because of this, water in nature and in use is rarely pure and some of its properties may vary slightly from those of the pure substance. However, there are many compounds that are essentially, if not completely, insoluble in water. Water is the only common substance found naturally in all three common states of matter and it is essential for life on Earth.^[3] Water usually makes up 55% to 78% of the human body.^[4]

Forms of water

Like many substances, water can take numerous forms that are broadly categorized by phase of matter. The liquid phase is the most common among water's phases and is the form that's generally denoted by the word "water." The solid phase of water is known as ice and commonly takes the structure of hard, amalgamated crystals, such as ice cubes, or loosely accumulated granular crystals, like snow. For a list of the many different crystalline and amorphous forms of solid H₂O, see the article ice. The gaseous phase of water is known as water vapor (or steam), and is characterized by water assuming the configuration of a transparent cloud. The fourth state of water, that of a supercritical fluid, is much less common than the other three and only rarely occurs in nature. When water achieves a specific critical temperature and a specific critical pressure (647 K and 22.064 MPa), liquid and gas phase merge to one homogeneous fluid phase, with properties of both gas and liquid. Since water only becomes supercritical under extreme temperatures or pressures, it almost never occurs naturally. One example of naturally occurring supercritical water is in the hottest parts of deep water hydrothermal vents, in which water is heated to the critical temperature by scalding volcanic plumes and achieves the critical pressure because of the crushing weight of the ocean at the extreme depths at which the vents are located.

In natural water (see Standard Mean Ocean Water), almost all of the hydrogen atoms are of the isotope protium, ¹H. Heavy water is water in which the hydrogen is replaced by its heavier isotope, deuterium,²H. It is chemically similar to normal water, but not identical. This is because the nucleus of deuterium is twice as heavy as protium, and thus causes noticeable differences in bonding energies and hydrogen bonding. Heavy water is used in the nuclear reactor industry to moderate (slow down) neutrons. By contrast with heavy water, the term light water (i.e., ordinary water, no special isotopes) designates water containing the most common form of hydrogen, the protium isotope. For example, light water reactor emphasizes that a reactor uses the less often found light water design.

Physics and chemistry

Water is the chemical substance with chemical formula H₂O: one molecule of water has two hydrogen atoms covalently bonded to a single oxygen atom.^[5] Water is a tasteless, odorless liquid at ambient temperature and pressure, and appears colorless in small quantities, although it has its own intrinsic very light blue hue. Ice also appears colorless, and water vapor is essentially invisible as a gas.^[1] Water is primarily a liquid under standard conditions, which is not predicted from its relationship to other analogous hydrides of the oxygen family in the periodic table, which are gases such as hydrogen sulfide. Also the elements surrounding oxygen in the periodic table, nitrogen, fluorine, phosphorus, sulfur and chlorine, all combine with hydrogen to produce gases under standard conditions. The reason that water forms a liquid is that oxygen is more electronegative than all of these elements with the exception of fluorine. Oxygen attracts electrons much more strongly than hydrogen, resulting in a net positive charge on the hydrogen atoms, and a net negative charge on the oxygen atom. The presence of a charge on each of these atoms gives each water molecule a net dipole moment. Electrical attraction between water molecules due to this dipole pulls individual molecules closer together, making it more difficult to separate the molecules and therefore raising the boiling point. This attraction is known as hydrogen bonding. The molecules of water are constantly moving in relation to each other, and the hydrogen bonds are continually breaking and reforming at timescales faster than 200 femtoseconds.^[6] However, this bond is strong enough to create many of the peculiar properties of water described in this article, such as the those that make it integral to life. Water can be described as a polar liquid that slightly dissociates disproportionately into the hydronium ion (H₃O⁺(aq)) and an associated hydroxide ion (OH⁻(aq)).

2 H₂O (l) H₃O⁺ (aq) + OH⁻ (aq)

The dissociation constant for this dissociation is commonly symbolized as K_w and has a value of about 10⁻¹⁴ at 25 °C; see "Water (data page)" and "Self-ionization of water" for more information.

Water, ice and vapor

Heat capacity and heats of vaporization and fusion

Water has the second highest specific heat capacity of all known substances, after ammonia, as well as a high heat of vaporization (40.65 kJ·mol⁻¹), both of which are a result of the extensive hydrogen bonding between its molecules. These two unusual properties allow water to moderate Earth's climate by buffering large fluctuations in temperature. Per Josh Willis, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory the oceans absorb one thousand times more heat than the atmosphere (air) and is holding 80 to 90% of global warming heat.^[8]

The specific enthalpy of fusion of water is 333.55 kJ·kg⁻¹ at 0 °C. Of common substances, only that of ammonia is higher. This property confers resistance to melting upon the ice of glaciers and drift ice. Before the advent of mechanical refrigeration, ice was in common use to retard food spoilage (and still is).

Note that the specific heat capacity of ice at -10 °C is about 2.05 J/(g·K) and that the heat capacity of steam at 100 °C is about 2.080 J/(g·K).

Density of water and ice

The density of water is dependent on its temperature, but the relation is not linear and is not even monotonic (see right-hand table). When cooled from room temperature liquid water becomes increasingly dense, just like other substances. But at approximately 4 °C, water reaches its maximum density. As it is cooled further under ambient conditions, it expands to become less dense. This unusual negative thermal expansion is attributed to strong, orientation-dependent, intermolecular interactions and is also observed in molten silica.^[12]

The solid form of most substances is denser than the liquid phase; thus, a block of the solid will sink in the liquid. But, by contrast, a block of common ice floats in liquid water because ice is less dense than liquid water. Upon freezing, the density of ice decreases by about 9%.^[13] The reason for this is the 'cooling' of intermolecular vibrations allowing the molecules to form steady hydrogen bonds with their neighbors and thereby gradually locking into positions reminiscent of the hexagonal packing achieved upon freezing to ice Ih. While the hydrogen bonds are shorter in the crystal than in the liquid, this locking effect reduces the average coordination number of molecules as the liquid approaches nucleation. Other substances that expand on freezing are antimony, bismuth, gallium, germanium, silicon, acetic acid, and other compounds that form spacious crystal lattices with tetrahedral coordination.

Only ordinary, hexagonal ice is less dense than the liquid. Under increasing pressure ice undergoes a number of transitions to other allotropic forms with higher density than liquid water, such as high density amorphous ice (HDA) and very high density amorphous ice (VHDA).

Water also expands significantly as the temperature increases. Its density decreases by 4% from its highest value when approaching the boiling point.

The melting point of ice is 0 °C (32 °F, 273 K) at standard pressure, however, pure liquid water can be supercooled well below that temperature without freezing if the liquid is not mechanically disturbed. It can remain in a fluid state down to its homogeneous nucleation point of approximately 231 K (−42 °C) ^[14]. The melting point of ordinary hexagonal ice falls slightly under moderately high pressures, but as ice transforms into its allotropes (see crystalline states of ice) above 209.9 MPa (2,072 atm), the melting point increases markedly with pressure, i.e. reaching 355 K (82 °C) at 2.216 GPa (21,870 atm) (triple point of Ice VII^[15]).

A significant increase of pressure is required to lower the melting point of ordinary ice —the pressure exerted by an ice skater on the ice would only reduce the melting point by approximately 0.09 °C (0.16 °F).

These properties of water have important consequences in its role in the ecosystem of Earth. Water of a temperature of 4 °C will always accumulate at the bottom of fresh water lakes, irrespective of the temperature in the atmosphere. Since water and ice are poor conductors of heat^[16] (good insulators) it is unlikely that sufficiently deep lakes will freeze completely, unless stirred by strong currents that would mix cooler and warmer water and accelerate the cooling. In warming weather, chunks of ice float, rather than sink to the bottom where they might melt extremely slowly. These phenomena thus may preserve aquatic life.

Density of saltwater and ice

WOA surface density.

The density of water is dependent on the dissolved salt content as well as the temperature of the water. Ice still floats in the oceans, otherwise they would freeze from the bottom up. However, the salt content of oceans lowers the freezing point by about 2 °C and lowers the temperature of the density maximum of water to the freezing point. That is why, in ocean water, the downward convection of colder water is not blocked by an expansion of water as it becomes colder near the freezing point. The oceans' cold water near the freezing point continues to sink. For this reason, any creature attempting to survive at the bottom of such cold water as the Arctic Ocean generally lives in water that is 4 °C colder than the temperature at the bottom of frozen-over fresh water lakes and rivers in the winter.

As the surface of salt water begins to freeze (at −1.9 °C for normal salinity seawater, 3.5%) the ice that forms is essentially salt free with a density approximately equal to that of freshwater ice. This ice floats on the surface and the salt that is "frozen out" adds to the salinity and density of the seawater just below it, in a process known as brine rejection. This denser saltwater sinks by convection and the replacing seawater is subject to the same process. This provides essentially freshwater ice at −1.9 °C on the surface. The increased density of the seawater beneath the forming ice causes it to sink towards the bottom. On a large scale, the process of brine rejection and sinking cold salty water results in ocean currents forming to transport such water away from the pole. One potential consequence of global warming is that the loss of Arctic ice could result in the loss of these currents as well, which could have unforeseeable consequences on near and distant climates.

Miscibility and condensation

Red line shows saturation

Water is miscible with many liquids, for example ethanol in all proportions, forming a single homogeneous liquid. On the other hand water and most oils are immiscible usually forming layers according to increasing density from the top.

As a gas, water vapor is completely miscible with air. On the other hand the maximum water vapor pressure that is thermodynamically stable with the liquid (or solid) at a given temperature is relatively low compared with total atmospheric pressure. For example, if the vapor partial pressure^[17] is 2% of atmospheric pressure and the air is cooled from 25 °C, starting at about 22 °C water will start to condense, defining the dew point, and creating fog or dew. The reverse process accounts for the fog burning off in the morning. If one raises the humidity at room temperature, say by running a hot shower or a bath, and the temperature stays about the same, the vapor soon reaches the pressure for phase change, and condenses out as steam. A gas in this context is referred to as saturated or 100% relative humidity, when the vapor pressure of water in the air is at the equilibrium with vapor pressure due to (liquid) water; water (or ice, if cool enough) will fail to lose mass through evaporation when exposed to saturated air. Because the amount of water vapor in air is small, relative humidity, the ratio of the partial pressure due to the water vapor to the saturated partial vapor pressure, is much more useful. Water vapor pressure above 100% relative humidity is called super-saturated and can occur if air is rapidly cooled, say by rising suddenly in an updraft.^[18]

Vapor pressure

Vapor pressure diagrams of water

Compressibility

The compressibility of water is a function of pressure and temperature. At 0 °C, in the limit of zero pressure, the compressibility is 5.1×10⁻¹⁰ Pa⁻¹.^[20] In the zero-pressure limit, the compressibility reaches a minimum of 4.4×10⁻¹⁰ Pa⁻¹ around 45 °C before increasing again with increasing temperature. As the pressure is increased, the compressibility decreases, being 3.9×10⁻¹⁰ Pa⁻¹ at 0 °C and 100 MPa. The bulk modulus of water is 2.2 GPa.^[21] The low compressibility of non-gases, and of water in particular, leads to their often being assumed as incompressible. The low compressibility of water means that even in the deep oceans at 4 km depth, where pressures are 40 MPa, there is only a 1.8% decrease in volume.^[21]

Triple point

The temperature and pressure at which solid, liquid, and gaseous water coexist in equilibrium is called the triple point of water. This point is used to define the units of temperature (the kelvin, the SI unit of thermodynamic temperature and, indirectly, the degree Celsius and even the degree Fahrenheit).

As a consequence, water's triple point temperature is a prescribed value rather than a measured quantity.

water phase diagram: Y-axis = Pressure in pascals (10ⁿ), X-axis = temperature in kelvins, S = solid, L = liquid, V = vapor, CP = critical point, TP = triple point of water

The triple point is at a temperature of 273.16 K (0.01 °C) by convention, and at a pressure of 611.73 Pa. This pressure is quite low, about ¹⁄₁₆₆ of the normal sea level barometric pressure of 101,325 Pa. The atmospheric surface pressure on planet Mars is remarkably close to the triple point pressure, and the zero-elevation or "sea level" of Mars is defined by the height at which the atmospheric pressure corresponds to the triple point of water.

Although it is commonly named as "the triple point of water", the stable combination of liquid water, ice I, and water vapor is but one of several triple points on the phase diagram of water. Gustav Heinrich Johann Apollon Tammann in Göttingen produced data on several other triple points in the early 20th century. Kamb and others documented further triple points in the 1960s.^[22][23][24]

Electrical properties

Electrical conductivity

Pure water containing no ions is an excellent insulator, but not even "deionized" water is completely free of ions. Water undergoes auto-ionization in the liquid state. Further, because water is such a good solvent, it almost always has some solute dissolved in it, most frequently a salt. If water has even a tiny amount of such an impurity, then it can conduct electricity readily, as impurities such as salt separate into free ions in aqueous solution by which an electric current can flow.

It is known that the theoretical maximum electrical resistivity for water is approximately 182 kΩ·m at 25 °C. This figure agrees well with what is typically seen on reverse osmosis, ultra-filtered and deionized ultra-pure water systems used, for instance, in semiconductor manufacturing plants. A salt or acid contaminant level exceeding even 100 parts per trillion (ppt) in ultra-pure water begins to noticeably lower its resistivity level by up to several kOhm·m (or hundreds of nanosiemens per meter).

The low electrical conductivity of water increases significantly upon solvation of a small amount of ionic material, such as hydrogen chloride or any salt. Thus the risks of electrocution are much greater in water with impurities. It is worth noting, however, that the risk of electrocution decreases when the impurities increase to the point at which the water itself is a better conductor than the human body. For example, the risks of electrocution in sea water may be lower than in fresh water, as the sea has a much higher level of impurities, particularly common salt. The main current path will seek the better conductor.

Any electrical conductivity observable in water is the result of ions of mineral salts and carbon dioxide dissolved in it. Carbon dioxide forms carbonate ions in water. Water self-ionizes in which two water molecules form one hydroxide anion and one hydronium cation, but not enough to carry enough electric current to do any work or harm for most operations. In pure water, sensitive equipment can detect a very slight electrical conductivity of 0.055 µS/cm at 25 °C. Water can also be electrolyzed into oxygen and hydrogen gases but in the absence of dissolved ions this is a very slow process, as very little current is conducted. While electrons are the primary charge carriers in water (and metals), in ice the primary charge carriers are protons (see proton conductor).

Electrolysis

Water can be split into its constituent elements, hydrogen and oxygen, by passing an electric current through it. This process is called electrolysis. Water molecules naturally dissociate into H⁺ and OH⁻ ions, which are attracted toward the cathode and anode, respectively. At the cathode, two H⁺ ions pick up electrons and form H₂ gas. At the anode, four OH⁻ ions combine and release O₂ gas, molecular water, and four electrons. The gases produced bubble to the surface, where they can be collected. The standard potential of the water electrolysis cell is 1.23 V at 25 °C.

Dipolar properties

An important feature of water is its polar nature. The water molecule forms an angle, with hydrogen atoms at the tips and oxygen at the vertex. Since oxygen has a higher electronegativity than hydrogen, the side of the molecule with the oxygen atom has a partial negative charge. An object with such a charge difference is called a dipole. The charge differences cause water molecules to be attracted to each other (the relatively positive areas being attracted to the relatively negative areas) and to other polar molecules. This attraction contributes to hydrogen bonding, and explains many of the properties of water, such as solvent action.

Hydrogen bonding

Model of hydrogen bonds between molecules of water

A water molecule can form a maximum of four hydrogen bonds because it can accept two and donate two hydrogen atoms. Other molecules like hydrogen fluoride, ammonia, methanol form hydrogen bonds but they do not show anomalous behavior of thermodynamic, kinetic or structural properties like those observed in water. The answer to the apparent difference between water and other hydrogen bonding liquids lies in the fact that apart from water none of the hydrogen bonding molecules can form four hydrogen bonds either due to an inability to donate/accept hydrogens or due to steric effects in bulky residues. In water local tetrahedral order due to the four hydrogen bonds gives rise to an open structure and a 3-dimensional bonding network, resulting in the anomalous decrease of density when cooled below 4 °C.

Although hydrogen bonding is a relatively weak attraction compared to the covalent bonds within the water molecule itself, it is responsible for a number of water's physical properties. One such property is its relatively high melting and boiling point temperatures; more energy is required to break the hydrogen bonds between molecules. The similar compound hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), which has much weaker hydrogen bonding, is a gas at room temperature even though it has twice the molecular mass of water. The extra bonding between water molecules also gives liquid water a large specific heat capacity. This high heat capacity makes water a good heat storage medium (coolant) and heat shield.

Transparency

Water is relatively transparent to visible light, near ultraviolet light, and far-red light, but it absorbs most ultraviolet light, infrared light, and microwaves. Most photoreceptors and photosynthetic pigments utilize the portion of the light spectrum that is transmitted well through water. Microwave ovens take advantage of water's opacity to microwave radiation to heat the water inside of foods. The very weak onset of absorption in the red end of the visible spectrum lends water its intrinsic blue hue (see Color of water).

Adhesion

Dew drops adhering to a spider web

Water sticks to itself (cohesion) because it is polar. Water also has high adhesion properties because of its polar nature. On extremely 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. In biological cells and organelles, water is in contact with membrane and protein surfaces that are hydrophilic; that is, surfaces that have a strong attraction to water. Irving Langmuir observed a strong repulsive force between hydrophilic surfaces. To dehydrate hydrophilic surfaces—to remove the strongly held layers of water of hydration—requires doing substantial work against these forces, called hydration forces. These forces are very large but decrease rapidly over a nanometer or less. They are important in biology, particularly when cells are dehydrated by exposure to dry atmospheres or to extracellular freezing.^[25]

Surface tension

This paper clip is under the water level, which has risen gently and smoothly. Surface tension prevents the clip from submerging and the water from overflowing the glass edges.

Temperature dependence of the surface tension of pure water

Water has a high surface tension of 72.8 mN/m at room temperature, caused by the strong cohesion between water molecules, the highest of the non-metallic liquids. This can be seen when small quantities of water are placed onto a sorption-free (non-adsorbent and non-absorbent) surface, such as polyethylene or Teflon, and the water stays together as drops. Just as significantly, air trapped in surface disturbances forms bubbles, which sometimes last long enough to transfer gas molecules to the water.

Another surface tension effect is capillary waves, which are the surface ripples that form around the impacts of drops on water surfaces, and sometimes occur with strong subsurface currents flowing to the water surface. The apparent elasticity caused by surface tension drives the waves.

Capillary action

Due to an interplay of the forces of adhesion and surface tension, water exhibits capillary action whereby water rises into a narrow tube against the force of gravity. Water adheres to the inside wall of the tube and surface tension tends to straighten the surface causing a surface rise and more water is pulled up through cohesion. The process continues as the water flows up the tube until there is enough water such that gravity balances the adhesive force.

Surface tension and capillary action are important in biology. For example, when water is carried through xylem up stems in plants, the strong intermolecular attractions (cohesion) hold the water column together and adhesive properties maintain the water attachment to the xylem and prevent tension rupture caused by transpiration pull.

Water as a solvent

Presence of colloidal calcium carbonate from high concentrations of dissolved lime turns the water of Havasu Falls turquoise.

Water is also a good solvent due to its polarity. Substances that will mix well and dissolve in water (e.g. salts) are known as hydrophilic ("water-loving") substances, while those that do not mix well with water (e.g. fats and oils), are known as hydrophobic ("water-fearing") substances. The ability of a substance to dissolve in water is determined by whether or not the substance can match or better the strong attractive forces that water molecules generate between other water molecules. If a substance has properties that do not allow it to overcome these strong intermolecular forces, the molecules are "pushed out" from the water, and do not dissolve. Contrary to the common misconception, water and hydrophobic substances do not "repel", and the hydration of a hydrophobic surface is energetically, but not entropically, favorable.

When an ionic or polar compound enters water, it is surrounded by water molecules (Hydration). The relatively small size of water molecules typically allows many water molecules to surround one molecule of solute. The partially negative dipole ends of the water are attracted to positively charged components of the solute, and vice versa for the positive dipole ends.

In general, ionic and polar substances such as acids, alcohols, and salts are relatively soluble in water, and non-polar substances such as fats and oils are not. Non-polar molecules stay together in water because it is energetically more favorable for the water molecules to hydrogen bond to each other than to engage in van der Waals interactions with non-polar molecules.

An example of an ionic solute is table salt; the sodium chloride, NaCl, separates into Na⁺ cations and Cl⁻ anions, each being surrounded by water molecules. The ions are then easily transported away from their crystalline lattice into solution. An example of a nonionic solute is table sugar. The water dipoles make hydrogen bonds with the polar regions of the sugar molecule (OH groups) and allow it to be carried away into solution.

Water in acid-base reactions

Chemically, water is amphoteric: it can act as either an acid or a base in chemical reactions. According to the Brønsted-Lowry definition, an acid is defined as a species which donates a proton (a H⁺ ion) in a reaction, and a base as one which receives a proton. When reacting with a stronger acid, water acts as a base; when reacting with a stronger base, it acts as an acid. For instance, water receives an H⁺ ion from HCl when hydrochloric acid is formed:

HCl (acid) + H₂O (base) H₃O⁺ + Cl⁻

In the reaction with ammonia, NH₃, water donates a H⁺ ion, and is thus acting as an acid:

NH₃ (base) + H₂O (acid) NH+4 + OH⁻

Because the oxygen atom in water has two lone pairs, water often acts as a Lewis base, or electron pair donor, in reactions with Lewis acids, although it can also react with Lewis bases, forming hydrogen bonds between the electron pair donors and the hydrogen atoms of water. HSAB theory describes water as both a weak hard acid and a weak hard base, meaning that it reacts preferentially with other hard species:

H⁺ (Lewis acid) + H₂O (Lewis base) → H₃O⁺

Fe³⁺ (Lewis acid) + H₂O (Lewis base) → Fe(H₂O)3+6

Cl⁻ (Lewis base) + H₂O (Lewis acid) → Cl(H₂O)−6

When a salt of a weak acid or of a weak base is dissolved in water, water can partially hydrolyze the salt, producing the corresponding base or acid, which gives aqueous solutions of soap and baking soda their basic pH:

Na₂CO₃ + H₂O NaOH + NaHCO₃

Ligand chemistry

Water's Lewis base character makes it a common ligand in transition metal complexes, examples of which range from solvated ions, such as Fe(H₂O)3+6, to perrhenic acid, which contains two water molecules coordinated to a rhenium atom, to various solid hydrates, such as CoCl₂·6H₂O. Water is typically a monodentate ligand, it forms only one bond with the central atom.

Organic chemistry

As a hard base, water reacts readily with organic carbocations, for example in hydration reaction, in which a hydroxyl group (OH⁻) and an acidic proton are added to the two carbon atoms bonded together in the carbon-carbon double bond, resulting in an alcohol. When addition of water to an organic molecule cleaves the molecule in two, hydrolysis is said to occur. Notable examples of hydrolysis are saponification of fats and digestion of proteins and polysaccharides. Water can also be a leaving group in S_N2 substitution and E2 elimination reactions, the latter is then known as dehydration reaction.

Acidity in nature

Pure water has the concentration of hydroxide ions (OH⁻) equal to that of the hydronium (H₃O⁺) or hydrogen (H⁺) ions, which gives pH of 7 at 298 K. In practice, pure water is very difficult to produce. Water left exposed to air for any length of time will dissolve carbon dioxide, forming a dilute solution of carbonic acid, with a limiting pH of about 5.7. As cloud droplets form in the atmosphere and as raindrops fall through the air minor amounts of CO₂ are absorbed and thus most rain is slightly acidic. If high amounts of nitrogen and sulfur oxides are present in the air, they too will dissolve into the cloud and rain drops producing acid rain.

Water in redox reactions

Water contains hydrogen in oxidation state +1 and oxygen in oxidation state −2. Because of that, water oxidizes chemicals with reduction potential below the potential of H⁺/H₂, such as hydrides, alkali and alkaline earth metals (except for beryllium), etc. Some other reactive metals, such as aluminum, are oxidized by water as well, but their oxides are not soluble, and the reaction stops because of passivation. Note, however, that rusting of iron is a reaction between iron and oxygen, dissolved in water, not between iron and water.

2 Na + 2 H₂O → 2 NaOH + H₂

Water can be oxidized itself, emitting oxygen gas, but very few oxidants react with water even if their reduction potential is greater than the potential of O₂/O²⁻. Almost all such reactions require a catalyst^[27]

4 AgF₂ + 2 H₂O → 4 AgF + 4 HF + O₂

Geochemistry

Action of water on rock over long periods of time typically leads to weathering and water erosion, physical processes that convert solid rocks and minerals into soil and sediment, but under some conditions chemical reactions with water occur as well, resulting in metasomatism or mineral hydration, a type of chemical alteration of a rock which produces clay minerals in nature and also occurs when Portland cement hardens.

Water ice can form clathrate compounds, known as clathrate hydrates, with a variety of small molecules that can be embedded in its spacious crystal lattice. The most notable of these is methane clathrate, 4CH₄·23H₂O, naturally found in large quantities on the ocean floor.

Heavy water and isotopologues

Several isotopes of both hydrogen and oxygen exist, giving rise to several known isotopologues of water.

Hydrogen occurs naturally in three isotopes. The most common (¹H) accounting for more than 99.98% of hydrogen in water, consists of only a single proton in its nucleus. A second, stable isotope, deuterium (chemical symbol D or ²H), has an additional neutron. Deuterium oxide, D₂O, is also known as heavy water because of its higher density. It is used in nuclear reactors as a neutron moderator. The third isotope, tritium, has 1 proton and 2 neutrons, and is radioactive, decaying with a half-life of 4500 days. T₂O exists in nature only in minute quantities, being produced primarily via cosmic ray-induced nuclear reactions in the atmosphere. Water with one deuterium atom HDO occurs naturally in ordinary water in low concentrations (~0.03%) and D₂O in far lower amounts (0.000003%).

The most notable physical differences between H₂O and D₂O, other than the simple difference in specific mass, involve properties that are affected by hydrogen bonding, such as freezing and boiling, and other kinetic effects. The difference in boiling points allows the isotopologues to be separated.

Consumption of pure isolated D₂O may affect biochemical processes - ingestion of large amounts impairs kidney and central nervous system function. Small quantities can be consumed without any ill-effects, and even very large amounts of heavy water must be consumed for any toxicity to become apparent.

Oxygen also has three stable isotopes, with ¹⁶O present in 99.76%, ¹⁷O in 0.04%, and ¹⁸O in 0.2% of water molecules.^[28]

History

The first decomposition of water into hydrogen and oxygen, by electrolysis, was done in 1800 by an English chemist William Nicholson. In 1805, Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac and Alexander von Humboldt showed that water is composed of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen.

Gilbert Newton Lewis isolated the first sample of pure heavy water in 1933.

The properties of water have historically been used to define various temperature scales. Notably, the Kelvin, Celsius, Rankine, and Fahrenheit scales were, or currently are, defined by the freezing and boiling points of water. The less common scales of Delisle, Newton, Réaumur and Rømer were defined similarly. The triple point of water is a more commonly used standard point today.^[29]

Systematic naming

The accepted IUPAC name of water is oxidane^[30] or simply water, or its equivalent in different languages, although there are other systematic names which can be used to describe the molecule.^[31]

The simplest systematic name of water is hydrogen oxide. This is analogous to related compounds such as hydrogen peroxide, hydrogen sulfide, and deuterium oxide (heavy water). Another systematic name, oxidane, is accepted by IUPAC as a parent name for the systematic naming of oxygen-based substituent groups,^[32] although even these commonly have other recommended names. For example, the name hydroxyl is recommended over oxidanyl for the –OH group. The name oxane is explicitly mentioned by the IUPAC as being unsuitable for this purpose, since it is already the name of a cyclic ether also known as tetrahydropyran.

The polarized form of the water molecule, H⁺OH⁻, is also called hydron hydroxide by IUPAC nomenclature.^[33]

Dihydrogen monoxide (DHMO) is a rarely used name of water. This term has been used in various hoaxes that call for this "lethal chemical" to be banned, such as in the dihydrogen monoxide hoax. Other systematic names for water include hydroxic acid, hydroxylic acid, and hydrogen hydroxide. Both acid and alkali names exist for water because it is amphoteric (able to react both as an acid or an alkali). While these names are technically not incorrect, none of them are used widely.

See also

References

External links

• Release on the IAPWS Industrial Formulation 1997 for the Thermodynamic Properties of Water and Steam (fast computation speed)
• Release on the IAPWS Formulation 1995 for the Thermodynamic Properties of Ordinary Water Substance for General and Scientific Use (simpler formulation)
• Sigma Xi The Scientific Research Society, Year of Water 2008
• Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI)
• Chaplin, Martin. "Water Structure and Science". London South Bank University. http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/water/sitemap.html. Retrieved 2009-07-07. 
• Calculation of vapor pressure, liquid density, dynamic liquid viscosity, surface tension of water
• Why does ice float in my drink?, NASA