what are the states of water

Question: what are the states of water

Asked by sarahw to Alexandra, Dean, Jess, Luisa, Sian on 15 Jun 2010 in Categories: General.
- Dean Whittaker answered on 12 Jun 2010:
  
  Simple answer is that water can be a gas (vapour above 100 degrees C), solid (ice below 0) or liquid (anywhere inbetween). The actual temperatures to freeze and evaporate water change with altitude (height above sea level), because the pressure of the air is different. So at the top of a mountain water boils at about 95 degrees C or so because the air is thinner, so the molecules of water can escape more easily.
  
  However (and here’s where I put my really geeky hat on) there are actually something like 18 different phases of water. A phase is like a sub-state. So it’s still solid, liquid or gas but one phase of, say, solid water (ice) looks different to another phase of solid water and that changes things like how it gets hot, how it melts and.. well.. everything – most the water in the universe is a form of Amorphous Ice that’s found on comets everywhere. Amorphous means it looks like liquid water – all the atoms are kinda randomly placed – but it’s solid like ice. That happens because space is so cold that the water freezes before the atoms have time to arrange themselves into “normal” ice. Since almost all the water in the universe is in space, this form wins. On earth it’s mostly liquid (in the ocean)
- Sian Foch-Gatrell answered on 12 Jun 2010:
  
  If you mean literally what are the states of water; they are liquid (liquid water), solid (ice) and gas (water vapour). Gas to liquid = condensation. Liquid to solid = freezing. Solid to gas = sublimation. Liquid to gas = evaporation. Solid to liquid = melting. Gas to solid = frost formation.
  
  But if you mean what is the current health state of water, then water and especially the marine environment is probably one of the most little understood areas while at the same time being one of the most important ones. We rely on our oceans and our freshwater systems for more than we may think. Most of our oxygen for example comes from the oceans, and it plays a massive role in maintaining our climate and our weather. Currently the oceans are being exploited at an unsustainable rate and the oceans are changing. Carbon dioxide is absorbed by the oceans which is a good thing, but as the climate warms, heat makes this absorption much more difficult. So carbon dioxide levels will continue to increase causing a nasty cycle, the more carbon dioxide that is absorbed into the oceans also changes its chemistry making it more and more acidic. Some very important creatures in the oceans such as anything with a shell will be affected first because they make their shells from calcium carbonates which are alkaline. These shellfish provide an important level in the oceans ecosystem and without them the whole trophic levels (basically the food chain) could fail.
- Alexandra Kamins answered on 12 Jun 2010:
  
  Looks like everyone’s got this one covered 😉
- Luisa Ostertag answered on 14 Jun 2010:
  
  Solid (ice), liquid (water), and gaseous.
  
  PS: Wow, there can be so much more sophisticated answers to this question … (see above)
- Jessica Housden answered on 15 Jun 2010:
  
  Water’s a bit of a funny thing really. Firstly – it is the only thing that all living organisms need for life, which is why probes being sent to other places in the Solar System are so obsessed with finding signs of water, or that there once was water.
  
  Water itself exists as all three common states – solid (ice), liquid (water) and gas (steam or water vapour).
  
  Interesting properties of water – it is least dense in the liquid form (at about 4 degrees c) rather than when it is a solid. This is why when water freezes it expands, and also that the solid (ice) then floats on top of the liquid (water).
  
  Water is formed when stars are born – it is amazing to think that the water around us was once elements in stars.

Question: what are the states of water

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