How molecules interact: H2O
Steam
How does water seem to disappear? Discover what happens when things get hot and start to steam.
Drink deeply
Whether a puddle, or bottled for serving in a fancy restaurant, it's all just molecules: try our guide to crystal clear water.
Ice
How does something runny and wet turn into an iceberg capable of sinking a ship? Find out how water changes state into ice.
Water in all its varied states is expained
We experience water in all of its three states: ice, liquid water, and steam; for example during a soak in the bath, or the familiar clink of ice cubes in a drink. Three quarters of the earth is covered in water, and it makes up 60% of the human body. But what do we know about this most essential of molecules?
Water is made up of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom (H2O). Each hydrogen atom forms a bond to the central oxygen atom (H-O-H). The hydrogen atom has one electron, whereas oxygen has eight, so the oxygen atom is much larger than the hydrogen. The water molecule looks a little like Mickey Mouse, because the angle between the two hydrogen atoms where they connect with the oxygen atom is about 104 degrees. This is called the "bond angle".
Because of this bond angle, the hydrogen atoms are at one end of the molecule, and oxygen is at the other. This gives the molecule polarity, with a more positive area near the hydrogen atoms and a more negative area near the oxygen. Because of this polarity, water molecules tend to attract one another. In other words, they're "sticky". This "stickiness" is caused by hydrogen bonding, and holds the molecules together to create the liquid state.
If you'd like to know more about chemical interaction and would like to tackle something a little more challenging than water, the Open University course Physical Chemistry: Principles of Chemical Change deals with topics from chemical thermodynamics through to electrochemistry
Content last updated: 14/02/2005
