Wonders of water. The Hydrogen Bond in Action

Description

The book presents the fantastic world of water in all its different forms, from liquid to ice and snow. This book is amply illustrated with a large number of beautiful pictures with. Water plays a unique role in chemistry. The special properties of water are due to hydrogen bonding between the H2O molecules. The hydrogen bond is of fundamental importance in biological systems since all living matter has evolved from and exists in an aqueous environment, and hydrogen bonds are involved in most biological processes. There is a hundred times more water molecules in our bodies than the sum of all the other molecules put together. The unique properties of water are of great importance in our daily life. The origin of these special properties is often not recognized. Even among chemists and physicists, the fundamental facts are not always known. In spite of very active research, there are still many questions to be answered about the structure of liquid water, for instance. The book differs from most books on water as it covers basic facts about structure and properties as well as the influence of these properties in our daily life. Why does ice float on water? Why is the maximum density of water at 4°C? The beauty of snow crystals is amply illustrated, and many of the pictures are unique. Contents Preface v 1. There are Many Different Types of Snow 1 2. Early Snow Crystal Observations 3 3. Artificial Snow Crystals 11 “Snow crystals” with seven and eight arms 17 Can you find two identical snow crystals? 17 Von Koch’s snowflake 17 Ice patterns on windows 18 Twins, snowflakes and hail 18 Aging of snow 19 Formation of rain 19 Snow cannons 19 4. Snow and Ice Crystals in Nature 23 Thin film interference in ice crystals 27 5. Snow for Pleasure and Art 29 6. The Ice Surface and Formation of Ice Spikes 41 Ice spikes 41 The ice surface 43 Icebergs 43 Effect of ice melting on the sea level 43 Ice as aircraft carrier and project Habakkuk 44 7. Structure and Physical and Chemical Properties of Water and Ice 47 The water molecule 47 The structure of ordinary, hexagonal ice, Ih 48 The structure of other forms of ice 51 viii Wonders of Water 8. Physical Properties of Water and Ice; Significance in Nature 53 Surface properties of ice and snow 55 The structure of liquid water 56 Models for the water structure 57 Water, a solvent with many interesting properties 59 Why is water blue? 60 9. Electron Microscopic Studies of Snow Crystals 63 Low temperature scanning electron microscopy 63 A panorama of snow crystals 64 Metamorphosis of snow crystals 64 Firn and depth hoar crystals 67 Surface hoar, rime, glaze, graupel and hail 68 Martian snow 69 10. Ice in Lakes and Glaciers 71 Basal plane of hexagonal ice 71 Glacier ice 72 Lake and sea ice 73 Unseeded ice 74 Seeded ice 74 Slush ice 75 11. Gas Hydrates 77 History 77 Structure of gas hydrates 78 Methane hydrate 80 Occurrence 80 Storage and transportation of natural gas 81 Effects connected with the release of methane 81 The Bermuda triangle 82 Hydrates of carbon dioxide 82 Chlorine hydrate 83 Encapsulated water molecules 83 The truncated icosahedron 85 12. Polyhedra Formed by Water, Carbon and Hydrocarbons 87 Contents ix 13. The Classical Elements of Nature 91 Water 91 Air 92 Fire 92 Earth 92 Aether 93 14. Mysteries of Water 95 Escher’s waterfall and the impossible triangle 95 Memory of water 96 Jacques Benveniste 96 Effect of glassware 98 Masaru Emoto 100 15. The Mpemba Effect. Can Warm Water Freeze Faster Than Cold Water? 103 How can we explain the Mpemba effect? 104 16. Mpemba Effects in Our Daily Life 107 Snow cannons 107 Ice cubes 108 Ice rinks 109 Hot-water pipes break on freezing while cold ones do not! 109 17. Hydrogen Bonding 111 The hydrogen bond 111 Models for the hydrogen-bond interaction 112 Linearity 112 The role of the lone-pair electrons on the acceptor atom 113 The water dimer 114 The hydrated proton 115 The hydrated proton in solids 116 Water in biological systems 118 Water transport in trees 119 18. Transformations of Our Earth by Water and Ice 123 Ice ages 123 x Wonders of Water Giant’s kettles, potholes 127 Beach caves 128 The story of Döda Fallet (the “Dead Fall”) 129 19. The Rainbow 131 The rainbow in literature and mythology 131 The physical origin of the rainbow 132 The geometry of the rainbow 135 20. The Water Molecule is Unique 139 Name Index 141 Subject Index