Water is the most common substance in the world. It is part of every living cell, so it is of great importance for maintaining life on Earth. We know a lot about water, but we still haven't solved all its mysteries.
Water is always around us
Water balance is the basis of life on our planet. Most of it on Earth is oceans and seas. They contain 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 every day to ensure their livelihoods.
Water is an integral part of the human body. Each of our cells is more than half of this fluid. The blood that flows 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 iswater?" almost everyone answers without hesitation: "It's a liquid!" After all, most often we are used to seeing the liquid state of water in nature. But in fact, it can have different forms that are radically different from one another.
Water comes in three states:
- liquid form;
- vapor state;
- solid aggregate form - ice.
Water is liquid
The liquid state of water in nature is most common to us. In this form, H2O can 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 no taste, no smell, no form of its own. Liquid seems to be the most pliable, but at the same time it has tremendous power. The liquid state of water in nature gives it the ability to dissolve many substances. Water flows can destroy rocks, create caves, and thus change the surface of the planet.
Liquid form H2O is used everywhere in everyday life. First, every living being, including humans, needs to consume a certain amount of water every day. 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, provide them with water, and wash our clothes. Without even thinking, we use liquid water for all these procedures.
Ice is solid water
N2O outliquid turns into a solid state of aggregation when the temperature drops below 0 degrees Celsius. It is interesting that almost all objects decrease in volume when cooled, and water, on the contrary, expands when it freezes. If so, it is transparent and colorless, then when it freezes, it can turn white due to air particles getting inside the ice.
Unusually, with the same crystal structure, ice can have many different shapes. The solid state of water in nature is giant icebergs, a shiny crust of ice on a river, white snow flakes, icicles hanging on rooftops.
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, keeping the reservoir 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 falls.
In everyday life we use frozen water as a coolant, throwing small ice cubes into drinks to cool them down. Food and medical preparations can be cooled in this way.
Water vapor
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, evaporation over rivers, lakes and seas when the weather changes or simply increaseshumidity.
There are always water droplets in the atmosphere, the tiny size of which allows them to stay on weight. We can only notice the presence of moisture in the air when it increases and clouds or fog appear.
Often the gaseous state of water can be useful in everyday life. A person uses steam to make ironing easier after washing. Recently, special devices have appeared, the basis of which is the formation of water vapor. These are steam generators. They have many functions, the main of which is the fight against pollution and microbes. 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 thawing, large masses of water are able to self-purify.
Water in any aggregate state is the highest value. The Bedouin, who lead a nomadic life in the deserts, say that it is worth more than gold. But even those who do not experience difficulties with a lack of water understand the greatest connection between it and life.
