The Titanic was sunk essentially by a huge ice cube! Why are there huge icy mountains floating around in the ocean anyway? That doesn't make sense! Weird, wonderful water is the reason for this disaster....when water freezes its mass stays the same but its density DECREASES! Water expands by 9% when frozen. When water cools the molecules slow down and shrink, but at 4 degrees Celsius, water does something strange, it begins to expand. Water is completely bonded by hydrogen structures. These bonds are their strongest at freezing temperatures and very hard to break. Above we have a model of liquid water in its fluid state. And now in its frozen state. Look closely...what differences do you see? There are holes in between the hydrogen and oxygen. This makes water LESS dense when frozen than when warmed up. Not all water is light weight though...there is water in nature that is "heavy". This water has extra neutrons in the nucleus. Scientists call it Deuterium. Hydrogen can occur in nature without a neutron, with a neutron and with 2 neutrons. The more neutrons added, the heavier the water. So heavy water looks like our cute little Mickey Mouse shaped H2O water molecule, except the hydrogen in heavy water is loaded, so to speak, with extra neutrons in the nucleus. No worries, heavy water isn't radio active or dangerous...unless that's the only water you drink for days, then you might be in trouble. A pharmacist did an experiment on himself by drinking lots of heavy water, he was prepared just in case he went into some kind of medical emergency by hiring four doctors that were ready to pump his stomach, jump start his heart or do what they needed to bring him back to life. Luckily, he survived the experiment and didn't suffer from the effects of heavy water at all. Heavy water is interesting and scientists are having fun freezing, boiling and running it through all types of tests. And we thought kinetic sand was fun!!
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Mrs. TaylorI love science! Everything about the world is interesting and never boring. I love to study plants, animals, insects, and people. My favorite subjects are my students who are the most unique organisms on the planet! Categories |