Intro to Water Understanding and Comprehending why water has unique and special properties

What is an atom? Atoms- are the smallest building blocks of matter All matter is composed of atoms When two or more atoms join its called a molecule

Understanding Parts of the Atom To understand why atoms join you have to understand the parts of the atom Nucleus- center of atom that has protons and Neutrons in it Neutrons- have no charge, found in Nucleus Protons- have positive electric charge found in Nucleus Electron- small negatively charged particles that have almost no mass, “orbit” around nucleus

Why do different atoms combine? Atoms join because they are unstable All atoms wish to be stable To achieve this they need to obtain a full outer shell of electrons This happens when atoms share, lose or gain electrons Full outer shell usually contains 8 electrons: called Octet Rule

Construction of Water Water is made up of two elements; Hydrogen and Oxygen Neither has a full outer shell of electrons so they join However electrons are not shared equally and this gives water unique traits

Water a Polar Molecule Because electrons are not shared evenly, water has a slightly electrical charge You call this type of molecule a Polar molecule- a molecule that has slight electrical charges This gives water 4 unique traits

4 Unique Properties of Water 1. Universal Solvent- it can dissolve most anything placed in it 2. Expands when Frozen- Water can only freeze in a specific way; as a result it expands when frozen causing it to become less dense 3. Capillary Action- water can actually “defy” gravity and pull itself upwards (Water ADHESION) 4. Surface Tension- water molecules “sticking” together creating the force of COHESION between them

Other Unique Traits High Specific Heat -water is 23 times “better” at retaining heat then air: it is also the only known substance to be found in all 3 states of matter on Earth HEAVY- 33ft of water depth = the same weight as 17 miles of air (ground uppermost atmosphere)