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Water
This nOde last updated June 19th,
2024 and is permanently morphing...
(first emerged June 6th, 1998)
water
water (wter, wter)
noun
1. A clear, colorless,
odorless, and tasteless liquid, H2O, essential for most plant
and animal life and the most widely used of all solvents.
Freezing point 0C (32F); boiling point 100C (212F);
specific gravity (4C) 1.0000; weight per gallon (15C) 8.337
pounds (3.772 kilograms).
2. a. Any of various
forms of water: waste water. b. Often waters. Naturally
occurring mineral water, as at a spa.
3. a. A body of water
such as a sea, lake, river, or stream. b. waters. A particular
stretch of sea or ocean, especially that of a state or
country: escorted out of British waters.
4. a. A supply of
water: had to turn off the water while repairing the broken
drain. b. A water supply system.
5. a. Any of the
liquids present in or passed out of the body, such as urine,
perspiration, tears, or saliva. b. The fluid surrounding a
fetus in the uterus; amniotic fluid.
6. An aqueous solution
of a substance, especially a gas: ammonia water.
7. A wavy finish or
sheen, as of a fabric or metal.
8. a. The valuation of
the assets of a business firm beyond their real value. b.
Stock issued in excess of paid-in capital.
9. a. The transparency
and luster of a gem. b. A level of excellence.
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verb
watered, watering,
waters verb, transitive
1. To pour or sprinkle
water on; make wet: watered the garden.
2. a. To give drinking
water to. b. To lead (an animal) to drinking water.
3. To dilute or weaken
by adding water: a bar serving whiskey that had been watered.
4. To give a sheen to
the surface of (silk, linen, or metal).
5. To increase (the
number of shares of stock) without increasing the value of the
assets represented.
6. To irrigate (land).
wringing water ![]() ![]() |
verb, intransitive
1. To produce or discharge fluid, as from the
eyes.
2. To salivate in anticipation of food: The
wonderful aroma from the kitchen makes my mouth water.
3. To take on a supply of water, as a ship.
4. To drink water, as an animal.
- phrasal verb.
water down
To reduce the strength or effectiveness of:
"It seemed clear by late autumn that the ban would be
significantly watered down or removed altogether before the
trade bill became law" (George R. Packard).
- idiom.
above water
Out of difficulty or trouble.
water under the bridge
A past occurrence, especially something
unfortunate, that cannot be undone or rectified: All that is now
just water under the bridge.
[Middle English, from Old English wter.]
- waterer noun
"empty your
mind... be formless... be shapeless...be water, my
friend..." - Bruce
Lee from his only television interview
"We are but
whirlpools in a river of ever-flowing water. We are not stuff that
abides, but patterns that perpetuate themselves. A pattern
is a message, and may be transmitted as a message."
- Norbert Wiener
founder of
Cybernetics
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pilot (vhs/ntsc) for _Kung Fu_
Caine: "may I have
some water?"
bartender: "is that
all you want? water?"
bartender: "where
did you come from?"
Caine: "the desert"
bartender: "the
desert? how the hell did you get across?"
Caine: "i walked"
The clue to some of water's strange behavior lies with the hydrogen atom, which has only one electron to share with any other atom with which it combines. When it joins with oxygen to form molecules of water, each hydrogen atom is balanced between two oxygen atoms in what is called the "hydrogen bond"; but having only one electron to offer, the hydrogen atom can be attached firmly on only one side, so the bond is a weak one. Its strength is 10 per cent of that of most ordinary chemical bonds, so for water to exist at all, there have to be lot of bands to hold it together. Liquid water is so intricately laced that it is almost a continuous structure, and one worker has gone so far as to describe a glass of water as a single molecule. Ice is even more regular, and forms the most perfectly bonded hydrogen structure known. Its crystalline pattern is so very precise that it seems to persist into the liquid state, and though it looks clear, water contains short-lived regions of ice crystals that form and melt many millions of times every second. It is as though liquid water remembers the form of the ice from which it came by repeating the formula over and over again to itself, ready to change back again at a moment's notice. If one could take a photograph with a short enough exposure, it would probably show icelike areas even in a glass of hot water.
- _Supernature_
by Lyall Watson
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water
water, odorless, tasteless,
transparent liquid that is colorless in small amounts but
exhibits a bluish tinge in large quantities. It is the most
abundant liquid on earth. In solid form (ice) and liquid form it
covers about 70% of the earth's surface. Chemically, water is a
compound of hydrogen and oxygen whose formula is H2O. The two
H-O bonds form an angle of about 105-an arrangement that
results in a polar molecule, because there is a net negative
charge toward the oxygen end (the apex) of the V-shaped molecule
and a net positive charge at the hydrogen ends. Consequently,
each oxygen atom is able to attract two nearby hydrogen atoms of
two other water molecules. These hydrogen bondings keep water
liquid at ordinary temperatures. Because water is a polar
compound, it is a good solvent. Because of the hydrogen bondings
between molecules, the latent heats of fusion and of evaporation
and the HEAT CAPACITY of water are all unusually high. For these
reasons water serves both as a heat-transfer medium (e.g., ice
for cooling and steam for heating) and as a temperature
regulator (the water in lakes and oceans helps regulate the
climate). Water is chemically active, reacting with certain
metals and metal oxides to form bases, and with certain oxides
of nonmetals to form acids.
Although completely pure water is a poor conductor of
electricity, it is a much better
conductor than most pure liquids because of its self-ionization,
i.e., the ability of two water molecules to react to form a
hydroxyl ion (OH-) and a hydronium ion (H3O+).
The following
are eight natural
ways of virtue in which people of
integral virtue can
learn from Water:
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track _Today and
Tomorrow_ MP3
by
Sense Field off of
_Killed For Less_ on Revelation (1994)
I am running water
I am pouring rain
it makes you stay
inside today
I know what you
think when you're all alone
cover you with what
you want
I know what you feel
when you're by yourself
what you feel
what you feel
what you feel
what you feel
you feel the running
water
and you feel the
pouring rain all over you
and it makes you
stay inside today
and you come out
come out wherever you are
you are
you are
if you only knew
what I felt when I'm all alone
cover you with what
you want
if you only knew
what I felt when I'm by my
cover you with what
you want
I feel like running
water
I feel like pouring
rain all over you all over you
if you only knew
what I felt when I'm all alone
cover you with what
you want
if you only knew
what felt when I'm by my
when you're by your
when I'm by my
cover you with what
you want
I feel like running
water
I feel like pouring
rain all over you
and it makes you
stay inside today and tomorrow
cover you with what
I want
you are what I want
Thomas: If any event,
as we glance at the sea, as we explore the world of elementary
particles, we see how the universe assimilates qualities
spontaneously. What name should we give this cosmic
dynamic? We could call it quantum stickiness, if we
wished to keep our
attention
tuned to the quantum realm. Or we could call it solvency
properties of water, if we wished to take the sea, and liquids
in general as our reference point. But in order to
indicate the universal aspect of this dynamic, we will use the
word sensitivity.
Thomas: They show a
minimal sensitivity for each other, yes. The universe is
sensitive - it's a realm of sensitivity. Matter is
sensitive. To say that an electron is sensitive means
that an electron notices things. The electron responds
to situations and is intrinsically altered by
them. I don't mean that the electron is self-reflexively
aware as a human is, however. Perhaps we could use the
phrase quantum sensitivity to make the same point. All
I'm saying is that the electron absorbs something from the
world, assimilating it into itself.
Youth: I'm confused. This sensitivity, this power of absorbing... What are we getting at here?
Thomas: We're investigating the way humans will mature into their destiny as the human form of cosmic dynamics.
- _The Universe Is
A Green
Dragon_
by Brian Swimme
If I ask the question, 'Who
am I?' I could conclude that, perhaps I am this stuff here,
i.e., the ordered and chaotic collection of
molecules that comprise my body and
brain.
However, the specific set of particles that comprise my body and brain are completely different from the atoms and molecules than comprised me only a short while (on the order of weeks) ago. We know that most of our cells are turned over in a matter of weeks. Even those that persist longer (e.g., neurons) nonetheless change their component molecules in a matter of weeks.
So I am a completely
different set of stuff than I was a month ago. All that persists
is the pattern of organization of that stuff. The pattern
changes also, but slowly and in a continuum from my past self.
From this perspective I am rather like the pattern that water
makes in a stream as it rushes past the rocks in
its path. The actual molecules (of water) change every
millisecond, but the pattern persists for hours or even years.
- Ray Kurzweil
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_Once
In A Lifetime_ music video directed by Toni Basil |
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you may ![]() |
_Remain In ![]() |
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Water is a chemical compound and polar molecule, which is liquid under STP conditions. It has the chemical formula H2O, meaning that one molecule of water is composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Water is found almost everywhere on earth and is required by all known life. About 70% of Earth's surface is covered by water.
General
The solid state of water is known as (water) ice; the gaseous state is known as steam. The units of temperature (formerly the degree Celsius and now the Kelvin) are defined in terms of the triple point of water, 273.16 K (0.01 C) and 611.2 Pa, the temperature and pressure at which solid, liquid, and gaseous water coexist in equilibrium.
At temperatures greater than 647 K and pressures greater than 22.064 MPa, a collection of water molecules assumes a supercritical condition, in which liquid-like clusters float within a vapor-like phase.
A body of water is a term for an ocean, sea, lake, river, stream, canal, pond, or the like.
Chemists sometimes jokingly refer to water
as dihydrogen monoxide or DHMO, the systematic covalent name of
this molecule, especially in parodies of chemical research that
call for this "lethal chemical" to be banned. The systematic acid name of water is hydroxic acid or
hydroxilic acid, although these terms are rarely used.
The dipolar nature of water
An important feature of
water is its polar nature. The water molecule forms an angle,
with hydrogen atoms at the tips and oxygen at the vertex. Since
oxygen has a higher electronegativity than hydrogen, the side of
the molecule with the oxygen atom has a partial negative charge,
relative to the hydrogen side. A molecule with such a charge
difference is called a dipole. The charge differences cause
water molecules to be attracted
to each other (the relatively positive areas being attracted to
the relatively negative areas) and to other polar molecules.
This attraction is known as hydrogen bonding.
This relatively weak (relative to the covalent bonds within the water molecule itself) attraction results in physical properties such as a very high boiling point, because a lot of heat energy is necessary to break the hydrogen bonds between molecules. For example, Sulphur is the element below oxygen in the periodic table, and its equivalent compound, hydrogen sulphide (H2S) does not have hydrogen bonds, and though it has twice the molecular weight of water, it is a gas at room temperature. The extra bonding between water molecules also gives liquid water a large specific heat capacity.
Hydrogen bonding also gives water an unusual behaviour when freezing. As with most other materials, the liquid becomes denser with lowering temperature. However, unlike most other materials, when cooled to near freezing point, the presence of hydrogen bonds means that the molecules, as they rearrange to minimise their energy, form a structure that is actually of lower density: hence the solid form, ice, will float in water i.e. water expands as it freezes (most other materials shrink on solidification). Liquid water reaches its highest density at a temperature of 4 C. This has an interesting consequence for water life in winter. Water chilled at the surface becomes denser and sinks, forming convection currents that cool the whole water body, but when the temperature of the lake water reaches 4C, water on the surface, as it chills further, becomes less dense, and stays as a surface layer which eventually forms ice. Since downward convection of colder water is blocked by the density change, any large body of water frozen in winter will have the bulk of its water still liquid at 4C beneath the icy surface, allowing fish to survive. (this is one of the principal examples of finely-tuned physical properties that support life on Earth that is used as an argument for the Anthropic Cosmological Principle).
Another consequence is that ice will melt if sufficient pressure is applied.
Water as a solvent
Water is also a good solvent due to its polarity. The solvent properties of water are vital in biology, because many biochemical reactions take place only within aqueous solutions (e.g., reactions in the cytoplasm and blood). In addition, water is used to transport biological molecules.
When an ionic or polar compound enters water, it is surrounded by water molecules. The relatively small size of water molecules typically allows many water molecules to surround one molecule of solute. The partially negative dipoles of the water are attracted to positively charged components of the solute, and vice versa for the positive dipoles.
In general, ionic and polar substances such as acids, alcohols, and salts are easily soluble in water, and nonpolar substances such as fats and oils are not. Nonpolar molecules stay together in water because it is energetically more favorable for the water molecules to hydrogen bond to each other than to engage in van der Waals interactions with nonpolar molecules.
An example of an ionic solute is table salt; the sodium chloride, NaCl, separates into Na+ cations and Cl- anions, each being surrounded by water molecules. The ions are then easily transported away from their crystalline lattice into solution. An example of a nonionic solute is table sugar. The water dipoles hydrogen bond to the dipolar regions of the sugar molecule and allow it to be carried away into solution.
Cohesion and surface tension
The strong hydrogen bonds give water a high cohesiveness and, consequently, surface tension. This is evident when small quantities of water are put onto a nonsoluble surface and the water stays together as drops. This feature is important when water is carried through xylem up stems in plants; the strong intermolecular attractions hold the water column together, and prevent tension caused by transpiration pull. Other liquids with lower surface tension would have a higher tendency to "rip", forming vacuum or air pockets and rendering the xylem vessel inoperative.
Conductivity
Pure water is actually an
insulator, meaning that it does not conduct electricity well. Because water is
such a good solvent, it often has some solute
dissolved in it, most
frequently salt. If water has such impurities, then it can
conduct electricity well.
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Electrolysis
Water can be split into its
constituent elements, hydrogen and oxygen, by passing a current
through it. This process is
called electrolysis. Water molecules naturally disassociate into
H+ and OH- ions, which are pulled toward the cathode and anode,
respectively. At the cathode, two H+ ions pick up electrons and
form H2 gas. At the anode, four OH- ions combine and release O2
gas, molecular water, and four electrons. The gases produced
bubble to the surface, where they can
be collected.
Reactivity
Chemically, water is amphoteric: able to act
as an acid or base. Occasionally
the term hydroxic acid is used when water acts as an acid in a
chemical reaction. At a pH of 7 (neutral), the concentration of
hydroxide ions (OH-) is equal to that of the hydronium (H3O+) or
hydrogen ions (H+) ions. If the equilibrium is disturbed, the
solution becomes acidic (higher concentration of hydronium ions)
or basic (higher concentration of hydroxide ions).
Theoretical vs experience
In theory, pure water has a pH of 7. In practice, pure water is very difficult to produce. Water left exposed to air for any length of time will rapidly dissolve carbon dioxide, forming a solution of carbonic acid, with a limiting pH of ~5.7. (reference: Kendall, J. (1916), Journal of the American Chemical Society, 38(11), 2460-2466)
Purifying water
Purified water is needed for
many industrial applications, as well as for consumption. Humans
require water that does not contain too much salt or other
impurities. Common impurities include chemicals or harmful
bacteria. Some solutes are acceptable and even desirable for perceived taste enhancement. Water
that is suitable for drinking is termed potable water.
Six popular methods for purifying water are:
1. Filtering:
Water is passed through a sieve that catches small particles.
The tighter the mesh of the sieve, the smaller the particles
must be to pass through. Filtering is not sufficient to
completely purify water, but it is often a necessary first step,
since such particles can interfere with the more thorough
purification methods.
2. Boiling: Water is heated to its boiling point long enough to inactivate or kill microorganisms that normally live in water at room temperature. In areas where the water is "hard", (containing dissolved calcium salts), boiling decomposes the bicarbonate ion, resulting in some (but not all) of the dissolved calcium being precipitated in the form of calcium carbonate. this is the so-called "fur" that builds up on kettle elements etc. in hard water areas. With the exception of calcium, boiling does not remove solutes of higher boiling point than water, and in fact increases their concentration (due to some water being lost as vapour)
3. Carbon filtering: Charcoal, a form of carbon with a high surface area due to its mode of preparation, adsorbs many compounds, including toxic compounds. Water is passed through activated charcoal to remove such contaminants. This method is most commonly used in household water filters and fish tanks. Household filters for drinking water sometimes also contain silver, trace amounts of silver ions having a bactericidal effect.
4. Distilling: Distillation involves boiling the water to produce water vapor. The water vapor then rises to a cooled surface where it can condense back into a liquid and be collected. Because the solutes are not normally vaporized, they remain in the boiling solution. Even distillation does not completely purify water, because of contaminants with similar boiling points and droplets of unvaporized liquid carried with the steam. Still, 99.9% pure water can be obtained by distillation.
5. Reverse osmosis: Mechanical pressure is applied to an impure solution to force pure water through a semi-permeable membrane. The term is reverse osmosis, because normal osmosis would result in pure water moving in the other direction to dilute the impurities. Reverse osmosis is theoretically the most thorough method of large-scale water purification available, although perfect semi-permable membranes are difficult to create.
6. Ion exchange chromatography: In this case, water is passed through a charged resin column that has side chains that trap calcium, magnesium, and other heavy metal ions. In many laboratories, this method of purification has replaced distillation, as it provides more quickly a high volume of very pure water. Water purified in this way is called deionized water.
Wasting Water
Wasting water is the abuse of water, i.e. spending it unnecesarily. An example is to dump the river water to the sea and to not allow the use in other places. Also, in homes, water may be wasted if the toilet is flushed unnecessarily.
Mythology
Water is one of the four classical elements along with fire, earth and air, and was regarded as the ylem, or basic stuff of the universe. Water was considered cold and moist. In the theory of the four bodily humours, water was asssociated with phlegm.
Water was also one of the Chinese five elements along with air, fire, wood, and metal.
Water rights and development
In the United States water law is divided between two legal doctrines: riparian water rights, used in the eastern and southern states where there is an abundance of water and the appropriation doctrine (or Colorado doctrine) used in the arid western states.
UNESCO's World Water Development Report (WWDR, 2003) from its World Water Assessment Program indicates that in the next 20 years the world is facing an unprecedented lack of drinking water. The quantity of water available to everyone is predicted to decrease by 30%. The causes are contamination, global warming and political problems.
40% of the world's inhabitants have insufficient fresh water for minimal hygiene. More than 2.2 million people died in 2000 from illnesses related to the consumption of contaminated water.
The report indicates large
global disparities in the raw volume of available water: from 10
m per person per year in Kuwait to 812.121 [m?] in French
Guiana. However, richer countries such as Kuwait can more easily
cope with low water availability.