The water was divided into two different liquids
Source:
We used to think that liquid water is a disordered collection of molecules that move rapidly within some structure. But scientists from Stockholm University have discovered two phases of this liquid with large differences in structure and density. Their results are based on experimental studies using x-rays and was published in the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Most of us know that water is essential for our existence on planet Earth. But much less well known is that water has many strange properties that are anomalous and not typical for other liquids. For example, melting temperature, density, heat capacity — in total there are about 70 properties of water that distinguish it from other liquids. These anomalous properties, by the way, became a prerequisite for the emergence of life known to us.
"the New property is noteworthy because, as it turned out, water can exist in two different liquids at low temperatures, when the ice slowly kristallizuetsya," says Anders Nilsson, Professor of chemical physics at Stockholm University. A breakthrough in the understanding of water is made possible thanks to the combination of research with application of radiography at the Argonne national laboratory near Chicago, which revealed two different structures and a large x-ray laboratory DESY in Hamburg, where he studied dynamics and demonstrated a liquid state of both phases. Water really can be two different liquids.
"Very interesting use x-rays to determine the relative positions of the molecules at different times," says Fivas Perakis, Professor at Stockholm University with experience in the field of ultrafast optical spectroscopy. "We, in particular, were able to track the transformation of the sample at low temperatures from one phase to another and showed that there is a characteristic of liquids diffusion".
When we think about ice, he often is represented as an ordered crystal phase of water, like from the fridge, but the most common form of ice in our planetary system is amorphous, i.e., disordered form. And there are two forms of amorphous ice with low and high density. These two forms may pass into one another, and there have been suggestions that they may be associated with forms liquid water the low and high density. To test this hypothesis experimentally tried for a long time, and the Stockholm group is finally managed.
"I have studied amorphous ice for a long time, trying to determine whether it is possible to consider them as a glassy state, represented by a frozen liquid," says Katrin Amann-Winkel, researcher in chemical physics at Stockholm University. "Dream becomes reality when I get the opportunity in detail to see how the vitreous form of water turns into the viscous fluid, which, in turn, almost instantly turns into a different, more viscous liquid with lower density".
The Fact that the water continues to amaze us, absolutely incredible. What else can be due to its strange properties, except for the transition between the different phases?
"the New results indicate that water at room temperature can not decide which of two forms it to be, high or low density, which leads to local oscillations between the two phases," says Lars Pettersson, Professor of theoretical chemical physics at Stockholm University. "In short: water — it is not a complex fluid, and two simple fluids with complex relations."
These new results not only provide an overview of the water at different temperatures and pressures, but also on how it is affected by salt and the biomolecules necessary for life. In addition, the more we learn about water, the better understand how to purify and desalinate in the future. This problem would be well addressed on the backdrop of an impending global climate crisis.
Recommended
What will be the shelter for the first Martian colonists?
Mars is not the friendliest planet for humans While the Red Planet is roaming rovers, researchers are pondering the construction of shelters and materials needed by future Martian colonists. The authors of the new paper suggest that we could use one ...
New proof of string theory discovered
Just a few years ago, it seemed that string theory was the new theory of everything. But today the string universe raises more questions than answers String theory is designed to combine all our knowledge of the Universe and explain it. When she appe...
What is the four-dimensional space?
Modeling camera motion in four-dimensional space. View the world in different dimensions changes the way we perceive everything around, including time and space. Think about the difference between two dimensions and three dimensions is easy, but what...
Related News
The General theory of relativity: four steps taken by the genius
the Revolutionary physicist used his imagination, not complex math to come up with their most famous and elegant equation. The General theory of relativity is known that foretells a strange but true phenomena, like the aging astro...
A device for remote charging and destroying drones
of Course, one can say, «narrow» today's drones is battery life, not allowing aircraft to spend long hours in the air. Of course, there are high-capacity batteries, solar panels and other surveys. But where a more elegan...
Why have dreams? Top ten theories
Dreams, reminiscent of watching TV shows in a drunken state, dreams of almost everyone, but no one knows why. Dreams are dreams, not every time we sleep and when we sleep, usually it's a random script, which made no sense. Sometim...
Scientists first got the "liquid light" at normal temperature
Physics for the first time in history got a "liquid light" at room temperature, making this unusual form of matter is more accessible than ever. It is a mixture of a superfluid, with no friction and viscosity, and some kind of con...
Created a protective fabric that can neutralize chemical weapons
Chemical weapons is one of the most dangerous weapons of mass destruction. And if at the beginning of the development of chemical weapons struck the man through the respiratory tract, the modern specimens are able to penetrate eve...
Recipe of dark matter can include a supercritical fluid
through years of research, it became clear that dark matter behaves abominably. This term was introduced about 80 years ago by astronomer Fritz Zwicky who realized that in order to prevent individual galaxies to escape in a gigant...
How much in the Universe of black holes?
for the third time In history, we directly black holes: gravitational waves, resulting from the merger. In combination with what we already know about the stellar orbits near the galactic center, x-ray and radio observations of ot...
Strange habits of albert Einstein: what can we learn from genius?
the Famous inventor and physicist Nikola Tesla was often flexed toes. Every night he repeatedly "squeezed" fingers 100 times on each foot, according to writer Mark Cypher. Although it is not clear that even included his exercise, ...
Physicists have found a possible breach in the Standard model
Physicists from the University of California at Santa Barbara have discovered a phenomenon that can not fail under any fundamental assumption, which adheres to the Standard model of physics. This conclusion was made after scientis...
Artificial intelligence to learn to recognize speech among noise
Virtual assistants and voice recognition fairly well learned «to know» what they person says, and follow his commands. But for this to work the same for Siri and Cortana, background noise can become a big problem. To cop...
Scientists have approached the creation of units for artificial photosynthesis
Oxygen is the basis of life of all creatures on our planet. And there he was, as we know from school biology course, in the process of photosynthesis taking place in leaves and stems of plants. Scientists with varying degrees of s...
Created the first two-dimensional magnet with a thickness of one atom
according to the editors of the journal Nature, a group of scientists from the University of Washington managed to get a connection on the basis of chromium and iodine. The structure of the compound is something of a counterpart o...
What it's like on the edge of the Universe?
There is a threshold beyond which we cannot go, there are things we will never know. But one thing we do know, and we have powerful tools: science, imagination, analysis. 13.8 billion years ago the universe as we know it, was born...
Scientists from the UK told why dinosaurs cannot be brought back to life
it is Difficult to find anyone who has not heard about the film series «Jurassic Park», launched in 1993 by Steven Spielberg. The theory of the return of the dinosaurs by cloning, as shown in the film still looks pretty ...
Mission to the sun protects us from solar storms and assist in space exploration
Prayer, sacrifice, the sun — you can tell people worshipping the sun since time immemorial. This is not surprising. It is only 150 million miles away is close enough for its light, heat and power supported by the entire human race...
American scientists have created a soft robot
From may 29 to June 3 in Singapore held the international conference on robotics and automation. In the framework of this event, scientists from the United States presented almost entirely soft robot. Their invention has 4 limbs a...
If the temperature rises above a certain threshold, the cell collapses and dies. One of the simplest explanations of this lack of heat is that the proteins necessary for life, are those which extract energy from food or sunlight, ...
10 high profile cases when the scientific laurels went not to the
In school we learn about all scientists because they have made invaluable discoveries and found a lot of important decisions in everything from horrible diseases to brilliant technologies. However, the history is often not what yo...
What happens when it evaporates, the singularity of a black hole?
Not so easy to imagine, given the diversity of the forms taken by matter in the Universe, over millions of years, there was only neutral gas atoms of hydrogen and helium. And similarly, it is difficult to imagine that one day, in ...
MIT staff have learned "programming" pasta
Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of technology are engaged not only in developments in the field of robotics and electronics, but also in the field of modernization of the food industry. Not long ago, during a conferenc...
Comments (0)
This article has no comment, be the first!