Water is the most abundant substance in the world. It is part of every living cell, therefore it is of great importance for maintaining life on Earth. We know a lot about water, but still have not revealed all its mysteries.
Water is always around us
Water balance is the basis of life on our planet. Most of it on Earth is the oceans and seas. They concentrated 97% of this substance. The remaining 3% are rivers, lakes, ponds, groundwater and vaporous water in the atmosphere. Plants and animals consume life-giving moisture daily to ensure their vital functions.
Water is an integral part of the human body. Each of our cells is more than half composed of this fluid. The blood flowing in our veins is 82% water. Muscles and skin contain 76% of it. Surprisingly, even bones in their composition have up to 30% water. Its lowest content in tooth enamel is only 0.3%.
The total mass of water on planet Earth is more than 2,000,000,000 million tons.
What are the 3 states of water in nature?
To the question "What is water?" almost all without hesitation answer: "This is a liquid!". Indeed, most often we are used to seeing the liquid state of water in nature. But in fact, it can have different forms, radically different from one another.
Water happens in three states:
- liquid form;
- vapor state;
- solid aggregate form - ice.
Water - Liquid
The liquid state of water in nature occurs to us most often. In this form, H 2 O can be in the temperature range from 0 to 100 degrees Celsius. It is this aggregate state that water has in rivers, seas, oceans and during rain.
This transparent substance has neither taste, nor smell, nor its own form. The liquid seems the most malleable, but at the same time, it has tremendous power. The liquid state of water in nature gives it the ability to dissolve many substances. Streams of water can destroy rocks, create caves, and thus change the terrain of the planet.
The liquid form of H 2 O is used everywhere in everyday life. Firstly, every living creature, including humans, needs to consume a certain amount of water daily. Secondly, we need it to maintain hygiene. We take a bath or shower every day, wash our hands several times a day, grow vegetables and fruits in our gardens, providing them with watering, and wash our clothes. Without even thinking, for all these procedures we use liquid water.
Ice - solid water
H 2 O from liquid goes into a solid state of aggregation when the temperature drops below 0 degrees Celsius. It is interesting that almost all objects decrease in volume during cooling, and water, on the contrary, expands when it freezes. If so, it is transparent and colorless, then during freezing it can become white due to the ingress of air particles into the ice.
Unusually, with the same crystalline structure, ice can have many different forms. The solid state of water in nature is giant icebergs, a shiny crust of ice on the river, white flakes of snow, icicles hanging on the roofs.
Ice is of great importance for human economic activity and has a great influence on the maintenance of the vital activity of many organisms. For example, when a river freezes, it performs a protective function, saving the pond from further freezing, thereby protecting the underwater world.
But ice can also cause devastating natural disasters. For example, hail, icing of buildings and aircraft, freezing of the soil, ice collapses.
In everyday life, we use frozen water as a refrigerant, throwing small ice cubes into drinks to cool them. Similarly, food and medicine can be cooled.
Water vapor
By heating the liquid to 100 ° C, we can see the transition to the gaseous state of water. In nature, we may encounter such water in the form of clouds, fog, fumes over rivers, lakes and seas when the weather changes or just high humidity.
There are always water droplets in the atmosphere, the tiny size of which allows them to be kept on weight. We can notice the presence of moisture in the air only when its amount increases and clouds or fog appear.
Often the gaseous state of water can be useful in everyday life. A person uses steam to facilitate ironing after washing. Recently, special devices have appeared that are based on the formation of water vapor. These are steam generators. They have many functions, the main of which is the fight against pollution and germs. Also, the process of vaporization can be traced on the example of the operation of a household air humidifier.
The transition of water from one state to another plays the role of a large-scale purification process. Only during evaporation, freezing and melting, large masses of water can self-clean.
Water in any state of aggregation is the highest value. The Bedouins, who lead a nomadic life in the deserts, say that it is more expensive than gold. But even those who do not experience difficulties with a lack of water, understand the greatest connection between it and life.