The Unique Properties of Liquid Water

We live on a planet that is covered with liquid water. With roughly 326 million cubic miles and it cover 72% of the earths surface the Oceans covers a water layer spanning 15,000 miles at average depth 2 miles. It a truly phenomenal substance which most of us take completely for-granted. 

However there nothing normal about liquid water as a molecular substance. Liquid water has a well know chemical configuration “H2O” consisting of two Hydrogen atoms and One Oxygen atom. But it’s the way they’re chemically bonded that make water a liquid at ambient temperature at the earth’s surface.

Let’s look a little deeper into chemical arrangement of water that gives it its unique bonding structure. Each atom has inner core of a nucleus usually of either protons and neutrons. Surrounded by outer shells of electrons. In the periodic table it groups the atoms based upon their atomic structures. Hydrogen is the simplest atomic structure with one proton in its nucleus and one electron in its out shell.

All atoms have varying numbers of protons and electrons within their atomic structures. Most atoms try to chemically combine with other atoms to become stable overall structures. The most stable structures in the periodic table are called the Nobel gases. Such as Helium ,Neon and Argon. Why are they stable chemical atoms simply because they have full outer shells of electrons that don’t lose or capture other surrounding electrons from other atoms.  So they’re not reactive atomic structures. 

But Hydrogen number 1 in the periodic table has only one electron in its outer shell with one inner proton in its nucleus. So Hydrogen has in a sense an electronic weakness due to only having one outer electron. Protons are electrically charged positive and electrons are electrically charge negative. So Hydrogen due to its electrically charged weakness can easily lose its outer negatively charged electron to other atoms. In so doing combine and form a new molecular structures with other atoms.

This is were the atom Oxygen come into the picture. Electrons circulate around the various nucleus like a cloud. Oxygen atom has 8 protons in its inner nucleus and 8 surrounding electrons. The outer shells of the oxygen atom have two electron outer shells first is occupied by two electrons which makes it full inner shell and the second shell has 6 electrons. However that makes the oxygen atom slightly positively charged overall due to its two missing outer shell electrons. So the oxygen atom is looking to capture two electrons from somewhere? 

This is where Hydrogen makes it self available to easily combine with the oxygen atom. But In this case it’s two Hydrogen atoms which each has one available outer electron to fill in the the two missing oxygen electrons in its second outer shell. So they combine and produce a polar covalently bonded structure. Which becomes “liquid” water molecule with the two Hydrogen atoms always slightly positively charged with Oxygen atom slightly negatively charged which creates this unique chemically charged negatively polar bonded covalent atomic structure. 

This is the main reasons why water remains a liquid over a wide temperature range of between 0c to 100c at the earths surface. Giving water it’s amazing solubility properties. Take a look at these two animations explaining simply how chemical atomic properties make water so unique.

Fuse school animation of water molecule bonding.

And properties of water

https://youtu.be/4mpsZwgCnHMhttps://youtu.be/h0py6BFlFZw

Interesting boat I actually saw near Barcelona which uses hydrogen fuel drawn directly from the sea.