5/2/2017 ScientistsFindThatWaterMightExistinaWholeNewState|Science|Smithsonian

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ScientistsFindThatWaterMightExistinaWholeNew
State
Thinkwatercomesinjustliquid,iceandgas?Thinkagain

There'smoretoH20thanmeetstheeye.(YegorLarin/Alamy)

ByRodrigoLedesmaAguilar,TheConversation
smithsonian.com
December22,2016

Oneofthemostbasicthingswearetaughtinschoolscienceclassesisthatwatercanexistinthreedifferentstates,eitherassolid
ice,liquidwater,orvapourgas.Butaninternationalteamofscientistshaverecentlyfoundsignsthatliquidwatermightactually
comeintwodifferentstates.

Writinginanexperimentalpaper,publishedintheInternationalJournalofNanotechnology,theresearchersweresurprisedto
findanumberofphysicalpropertiesofwaterchangetheirbehaviourbetween50and60.Thissignofapotentialchangetoa
secondliquidstatecouldsparkaheateddiscussioninthescientificcommunity.And,ifconfirmed,itcouldhaveimplicationsfor
arangeoffields,includingnanotechnologyandbiology.

Statesofmatter,alsocalledphases,areakeyconceptinthestudyofsystemsmadefromatomsandmolecules.Roughly
speaking,asystemformedfrommanymoleculescanbearrangedinacertainnumberofconfigurationsdependingonitstotal

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5/2/2017 ScientistsFindThatWaterMightExistinaWholeNewState|Science|Smithsonian

energy.Athighertemperatures(andthereforehigherenergies),themoleculeshavemorepossibleconfigurationsandsoaremore
disorganisedandcanmoveaboutrelativelyfreely(thegasphase).Atlowertemperatures,themoleculeshaveamorelimited
numberofconfigurationsandsoformamoreorderedphase(aliquid).Ifthetemperaturegoesdownfurther,theyarrange
themselvesinaveryspecificconfiguration,producingasolid.

Thispictureiscommonforrelativelysimplemoleculessuchascarbondioxideormethane,whichhavethreeclear,different
states(liquid,solidandgas).Butformorecomplexmolecules,thereisalargernumberofpossibleconfigurationsandthisgives
risetomorephases.Abeautifulillustrationofthisistherichbehaviourofliquidcrystals,whichareformedbycomplexorganic
moleculesandcanflowlikeliquids,butstillhaveasolidlikecrystallinestructure

Becausethephaseofasubstanceisdeterminedbyhowitsmoleculesareconfigured,manyphysicalpropertiesofthatsubstance
willchangeabruptlyasitgoesfromonestatetoanother.Intherecentpaper,theresearchersmeasuredseveraltelltalephysical
propertiesofwaterattemperaturesbetween0and100undernormalatmosphericconditions(meaningthewaterwasa
liquid).Surprisingly,theyfoundakinkinpropertiessuchasthewaterssurfacetensionanditsrefractiveindex(ameasureof
howlighttravelsthroughit)ataround50.

Howcanthisbe?Thestructureofawatermolecule,H2O,isveryinterestingandcanbepicturedlikeasortofarrowtip,withthe
twohydrogenatomsflankingtheoxygenatomatthetop.Theelectronsinthemoleculetendtobedistributedinarather
asymmetricway,makingtheoxygensidenegativelychargedrelativetothehydrogenside.Thissimplestructuralfeatureleadsto
akindofinteractionbetweenwatermoleculesknownashydrogenbonding,inwhichtheoppositechargesattracteachother.

Thisgiveswaterpropertiesthat,inmanycases,breakthetrendsobservedforothersimpleliquids.Forexample,unlikemost
othersubstances,afixedmassofwatertakesupmoreroomasasolid(ice)thanasa(liquid)becauseofthewayitmolecules
formaspecificregularstructure.Anotherexampleisthesurfacetensionofliquidwater,whichisroughlytwicethatofothernon
polar,simpler,liquids.

Waterissimpleenough,butnottoosimple.Thismeansthatonepossibilityforexplainingtheapparentextraphaseofwateris
thatitbehavesalittlebitlikealiquidcrystal.Thehydrogenbondsbetweenmoleculeskeepsomeorderatlowtemperatures,but
eventuallycouldtakeasecond,lessorderedliquidphaseathighertemperatures.Thiscouldexplainthekinksobservedbythe
researchersintheirdata.

Ifconfirmed,theauthorsfindingscouldhavemanyapplications.Forexample,ifchangesintheenvironment(suchas
temperature)causechangesinasubstancesphysicalproperties,thenthiscanpotentiallybeusedforsensingapplications.
Perhapsmorefundamentally,biologicalsystemsaremostlymadeofwater.Howbiologicalmolecules(suchasproteins)interact
witheachotherlikelydependsonthespecificmannerinwhichwatermoleculesarrangetoformaliquidphase.Understanding
howwatermoleculesarrangethemselvesonaverageatdifferenttemperaturescouldshedlightontheworkingsofhowthey
interactinbiologicalsystems.

Thediscoveryisanexcitingopportunityfortheoristsandexperimentalists,andabeautifulexampleofhoweventhemost
familiarsubstancestillhassecretshidingwithin.

ThisarticlewasoriginallypublishedonTheConversation.Readtheoriginalarticle.

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