Newly published science journal paper reveals that water exists as a liquid of various densities.
Water is a ubiquitous liquid that has many unique properties. The way we react to changes in pressure and temperature can be completely different from what we know, and these properties are necessary for many practical applications and especially for the life we know.
What has been the cause of these inconsistencies has been a source of scientific inspiration with various theoretical explanations, but now an international team of researchers, including a professor at the Graduate Center, CUNY and chair of the physics department at Brooklyn College College, Nicholas Geombat. Water proved to exist in two different liquid states – a discovery that could explain many incompatible properties of water. His research appears in a paper published in the November 20 issue of the journal Science.
The graphic above gives an imaginary view of how water exists in two fluid states separated by a thin interface. The liquid at the bottom is more ganse than the top, as it is composed of water molecules that are more closely packed. Credit: Jerker Lockrantz and Anders Nilsson
Based on the results obtained from the computer simulation, the probability of the existence of water in two different liquid states was suggested about 30 years ago. “This antithetical hypothesis is one of the most important questions in water chemistry and physics and has been a controversial issue since its inception. This is because experiments that allow two liquids to enter the water state are very challenging because of the apparent inevitable ice formation in which two liquids must exist. “
The normal “liquid” state of water that we are all familiar with corresponds to liquid water at normal temperature (about 25 centigrade). However, the paper shows that water at low temperatures (approximately -63 સે C) exists in two different liquid states, low-density liquids at low pressures and high-density liquids at high pressures. Both of these liquids have significantly different properties and are distinguished by a 20% density. The results suggest that under appropriate conditions, water should exist as two static liquids that coexist with oil and water through a thin interface.
Because water is one of the most important substances on Earth – the solvent of life as we know it – its phase behavior plays a fundamental role in various fields including biochemistry, climate, cryopreservation, crybiology, physics including where water soluble in many industrial industrial processes, Or acts as an impurity. It follows that abnormal characteristics in water phase behavior, such as the presence of two liquid phases, can affect numerous scientific and engineering applications.
“It is an open question how the presence of two liquids affects the behavior of aqueous solutions in general, and in particular, how two liquids can affect biomolecules in an aquatic environment,” Geovambatista said. “This encourages further study in the search for potential applications.”
Ref: 20 November 2020, Science.
Geovambatista is a member of the PhD in Physics and Chemistry. Programs at the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center.
An international team led by Anders Nilsson, a professor of chemical physics at Stockholm University, used complex experiments and computer simulations to prove this theory. The experiments, described by GeoVambatista as “science-fiction-like”, were performed by colleagues at Stockholm University in Sweden, Postach University in Korea, Pal-XFEL in Korea, and SLAC National Acceleration Laboratory in California. Professor Geovambatista and Peter H. of Computer Simulations, St. Francis Xavier University, Canada. Were performed by Poole. Since these experiments were so complex, computer simulations played an important role in the interpretation of the experiments and some observations were not accessible during the experiments.
