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Water Science
{Merck Index – – 1952 by Merck & Co., Inc.}
Mol. vol. at 2O = 18.016. n20D 1.33300. m. 0.
Pyrogen-free water (water for injection) is distilled water rendered free of fever-producing proteins (bacteria and their metabolic products). See also Pyrogens.
Water is diamagnetic. (Repelled from a magnetic field but not magnetized.)
Thirsty ? You’re 2 Quarts Down
Most cars have a little light that comes on when the oil pump is no longer pumping oil. Most of you know that if that light comes on you must stop immediately to add oil or risk catastrophic engine failure. The light comes on “After the Fact” that you don’t have enough oil to cool and lubricate your engine. Research has shown that our sense of thirst is an “After the Fact” response. Our thirst craving isn’t activated until we have lost about 28% of our blood plasma. This means we have lost about two quarts of our normal seven quarts of blood liquid.
Time to stop and rehydrate yourself or risk having the “solids in your blood” come out of solution and plug up your circulatory system. The reason atoms and molecules come out of solution when the concentration of the system increases has to do with electricity. The electric force is what keeps “atomic systems” from bumping into each other. When the electric force is properly balanced, all the different atoms and molecules keep a safe distance apart and are able to go about their individual work. (Visualize “Atomic Personal Space”.)
“A Bag of Mostly Water” (- Star Trek -)
75 – 85 percent of our body is comprised of water, with a large handful of soil and about 25 pounds carbon dioxide thrown in for a good blend. This doesn’t sound like much, but Oh! Just look at the final product! What makes it all “tic”? Electricity !!! – The Electric Force is involved in all atomic bondings. (The molecular world is ruled by three primary forces: Electric, Magnetic and Mechanical.) This seems a little strange when one first learns that very pure water doesn’t conduct electricity. And yet, all the chemical reactions that occur in solution involve and require electricity. Control the electric force, and you can control the chemical reactions.
Water’s unique geometry does give it some very interesting properties. Water’s two hydrogen atoms are not across from each other as one might expect from the “Ideal of Symmetry” or charge distribution. Some atoms have electrons in orbits that very closely resemble those of comets, as well as Earth type orbits. Atoms also have a strong preference as to the sequence in which the different possible orbital regions are populated with electrons.
Oxygen was the lucky atom that got to fill its electron orbitals in a manner that produced this interesting geometry. Water’s Hydrogen atoms are grouped to one side. This allows a small electric charge differential to manifest across the “two ends” of the water molecule.
This charge causes the water molecules to line up and loosely connect producing the effect we call “Surface Tension”. This mechanism allows a needle to float on top or an insect to walk across it.
This electric charge also allows the water molecule to “wiggle” its way between certain atoms in salts. This allows the atoms of the salt to manifest their “Ionic Potential” and it’s the atomic ionic potential in solutions that creates the possibility for biological life on Earth.
pH
To understand the chemistry of water we need to know about pH. pH is the Log Scale Unit of Measure used to express the degree of acidity of a substance.
A Water Molecule has one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms.
Water Molecule ( H2O )
In pure water, most of the water molecules remain intact. However, a very small amount of them reacts with each other in the following manner.
H2O + H2O ===> H3O+ + OH–
Water + Water ===> Hydronium Ion+ ( an Acid ) + Hydroxyl Ion– ( a Base )
The hydronium ion ( H3O+) is the chemical unit which accounts for the acidic properties of a solution. The hydroxyl ion ( OH– ) is the chemical which accounts for the basic or alkaline properties of a solution.
When pure water reacts, it produces an equal amount of H3O+ and OH–. Thus, it does not have an excess of either ion. It is therefore called a neutral solution.
If a strong acid, such as hydrochloric acid ( HCl ) is added to water, it reacts with some of the water molecules as follows:
HCl + H2O <=====> H3O+ + Cl–
Thus, the addition of HCl to water increases the H3O+ or acid concentration of the resulting solution.
If a strong base, such as sodium hydroxide, is added to water, it ionizes as follows:
NaOH <=====> Na+ + OH–
Thus, the addition of NaOH to water increases the OH– or alkali concentration of the resulting solutions.
Another interesting aspect of water is that the concentration of H3O+ and OH– remain in balance with each other. An increase in the concentration of H3O+ causes a proportional decrease in the concentration of OH–. More about pH.
Specific Conductance
Specific conductance is a measure of the ability of a water solution to conduct an electrical current. Specific conductance is the reciprocal of specific resistance in ohms and is reported in microsiemens%imeter (us/cm) at 25 degrees Celsius (C). Specific conductance is related to the type and concentration of ions in solution and can be used for approximating the dissolved-solids content of the water. Commonly, the concentration of dissolved solids (in “milligrams per liter” mg/l, more commonly expressed as “parts per million” ppm) is about 65 percent of the specific conductance (in microsiemens). This relation is not constant from stream to stream, and it may vary in the same stream with changes in the composition of the water. -USGS-
Very pure water doesn’t conduct electricity, but as soon as any substance that ionizes in water is added, you have a conductor owing to the fact that the ionized atoms in the water solution carry the current. Knowledge of this property gives one a valuable tool for controlling chemical reactions. For one thing, ionized atoms experience acceleration when an electric field is set up within the solution. Ionized Atoms move toward the charge of opposite sign. This effect is used in electroplating to provide a smooth even coating of atoms on your target material. The electric force causes the atoms to move out of the solution at concentration levels far below those of a saturated solution.
Reversing the charge/current will cause the atoms to go back into solution from your material. Electricity can be used to bring materials into solution or to take them out again. Electroplating can be done without the use of an external power source and wires. “Electro-less Solutions” are available that have their internal electrical forces balanced in such a manner, that when a suitable object is placed in the solution, the metal ions will come out of solution and coat the object. Again, if the object were to be connected to a proper external power source, the “plated atoms” will come off the object again. And again, if the object were to be placed in an ionic solution with the right properties, the “plated atoms” would also come off again.
This is an important lesson, because all the laws of physics that rule the mineral kingdom are also at work in some way in our bodies. The inside of our body’s “pipes” can become coated, even totally plugged, when materials come out of solution. This Process is REVERSIBLE! Dr. T. C. McDaniel has reported success with about 39 diseases working with over 10,000 patients. His method is to administer an I.V. solution with the correct electrical properties to bring into solution the problem material. This method is based on the applied craft of Colloidal Science, known and widely used in many branches of chemistry. Dr. McDaniel’s method involves mixing salts that are normally found in human blood, (indeed required by the human body) in a crafted manner, so as to achieve the correct electrical potential.
“Cleaning Up” with “Electric Water”
So, water is the most universal solvent we know about, and we have a flower vase to clean up. Lots of hard mineral stuff on its sides. So we get some “pure water” and scrub and scrub. We can see that it is working, but it is taking too long and using too much “pure water”. So, what is the first thing we think of doing? … We Add SOAP !!!
What does the soap do? It makes the water wetter. How can wet water get wetter? We add something to the water that changes the electrical properties of the solution, which then makes it easier for the water molecules to wiggle their way between the unwanted “dirt particles”. Adding a surfactant (a surface-active agent) such as detergent can decrease surface tension, but this will not increase water’s carrying capacity unless it changes the basic colloidal chemistry of the liquid by adding a material with negative ions.
Soap works by breaking up the electric field which creates surface tension. This allows water to “surround its victim and carry it away”. This works fine if your dirt isn’t stuck to securely to your surface. But what if it is “well bonded” and sticks to itself really well, like the minerals on the sides of your vase? Water’s weak electric charge will get the job done if you have enough “pure water” and enough time. But what if you can’t use soap, or you want to use less water and less time?
Anions( – ) and Cations( + )
Here is a case where the classic notation inhibits the understanding of the subject. The reason atoms form chemical bonds has more to do with mechanics than it does with electricity. Hydrogen’s positive notation when classed as a Cation, is not because it has two positrons and only one electron – hydrogen has only one positron in its nucleus – it is because with only one electron in orbit, it wobbles all over the place and atoms have a strong desire not to – Inertia you know.
The nature of hydrogen’s electron orbit makes it a perfect candidate to receive an additional electron (if the spin is right) to achieve dynamic balance for the hydrogen’s atomic system. Because it can receive an electron it is considered to be a positive entity and is called a Cation. (Electropositive) On the other side of the binary is the Anion. Chlorine is classed as an Anion. Chlorine has an electron in a somewhat unstable orbit that it would love to share. Since it is providing the electron, it is classed as an Anion. (Electronegative)
When Hydrogen and Chlorine get together, they share the electron in a figure 8 orbital that allows them to achieve a symbiotic dynamic stability. Hydrochloric acid ( H+Cl– ), is what our bodies produce to electrify our stomach fluids. But pure HCl can’t do the job by itself. In order to achieve good dynamic stability, the hydrogen atom and chlorine atom cuddle up real close. It takes water to intervene in this relationship, to allow the electric force to manifest and do its work. The water molecules cuddle up to the hydrogen and chlorine atoms, like so many children wanting to get in on their parent’s hugs. WOW !
So, what about the Flower Vase ! Adding a little HCl (or vinegar) to the pure water in your vase will activate the water’s electrical potential giving the solution the power to unlock the atomic bonds that are holding the minerals to the side of your vase.
Result: A Clean Flower Vase !!!
“Rubber Eggs” and “Rubbery-Soft” Chicken Bones
Here is a little experiment you can do at home to remove calcium safely.
– Factoid –
Water is diamagnetic (Repelled from a magnetic field, but not magnetized, more so when cold around 39 F.). This results from the fact that there are two diamagnetic hydrogen atoms and one paramagnetic oxygen atom comprising the water molecule. … Remember, All this is to convince you to DRINK more Water.
??? How Much Water Should One Drink ???
Dr. Judith Reichman, during a network morning show, perhaps said it best. We are all individuals, and so are our needs. At times our bodies use large amounts of water to keep us cool. So, the issue resides in not how much water you drink, but in drinking enough water for your body to wash out all the toxins that have acuminated in our blood. So the bottom line, she says, “is that you drink enough water so that you can Urinate Two Quarts a Day”. Drink Enough Water for your body to keep cool and still have enough to wash out your system.
Can You Drink Too Much Water?
From, To Your Health – Winona Daily News
By Dr. Paul G. Donohue
You can eat or drink too much of anything, including water. Healthy kidneys can filter 12 quarts of water a day, an amount about six times the body’s water quota. Drink much more than 12 quarts and you can dilute body fluids to such an extent that headaches occur, confusion sets in and coma might develop. You really would have to work at it to drink that much water in one day, however. People who drink that much water often suffer from mental illness. Clear urine is not an indication of too much water. More often than not, it indicates that the proper amounts of water have been drunk. If, however, running to the bathroom every 15 minutes goes along with clear urine, then something is amiss. Excess water can be one of the reasons why the two – frequent urination and colorless urine – are coupled.
Electric Charge Differential
Bizarre chemical discovery gives homeopathic hint
Andy Coghlan
It is a chance discovery so unexpected it defies belief and threatens to reignite debate about whether there is a scientific basis for thinking homeopathic medicines really work.
A team in South Korea has discovered a whole new dimension to just about the simplest chemical reaction in the book – what happens when you dissolve a substance in water and then add more water. Conventional wisdom says that the dissolved molecules simply spread further and further apart as a solution is diluted. But two chemists have found that some do the opposite: they clump together, first as clusters of molecules, then as bigger aggregates of those clusters. Far from drifting apart from their neighbours, they got closer together.
The discovery has stunned chemists, and could provide the first scientific insight into how some homeopathic remedies work. Homeopaths repeatedly dilute medications, believing that the higher the dilution, the more potent the remedy becomes. Some dilute to “infinity” until no molecules of the remedy remain. They believe that water holds a memory, or “imprint” of the active ingredient which is more potent than the ingredient itself. But others use less dilute solutions – often diluting a remedy six-fold. The Korean findings might, at last, go some way to reconciling the potency of these less dilute solutions with orthodox science.
Completely counterintuitive
German chemist Kurt Geckeler and his colleague Shashadhar Samal stumbled on the effect while investigating fullerenes at their lab in the Kwangju Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea. They found that the football-shaped buckyball molecules kept forming untidy aggregates in solution, and Geckler asked Samal to look for ways to control how these clumps formed. What he discovered was a phenomenon new to chemistry.
“When he diluted the solution, the size of the fullerene particles increased,” says Geckeler. “It was completely counterintuitive,” he says. Further work showed it was no fluke. To make the otherwise insoluble buckyball dissolve in water, the chemists had mixed it with a circular sugar-like molecule called a cyclodextrin. When they did the same experiments ith just cyclodextrin molecules, they found they behaved the same way. So did the organic molecule sodium guanosine monophosphate, DNA and plain old sodium chloride.
Dilution typically made the molecules cluster into aggregates five to 10 times as big as those in the original solutions. The growth was not linear, and it depended on the concentration of the original. “The history of the solution is important. The more dilute it starts, the larger the aggregates,” says Geckeler. Also, it only worked in polar solvents like water, in which one end of the molecule has a pronounced positive charge while the other end is negative.
Biologically active
But the finding may provide a mechanism for how some homeopathic medicines work – something that has defied scientific explanation till now. Diluting a remedy may increase the size of the particles to the point when they become biologically active. It also echoes the controversial claims of French immunologist Jacques Benveniste. In 1988, Benveniste claimed in a Nature paper that a solution that had once contained antibodies still activated human white blood cells. Benveniste claimed the solution still worked because it contained ghostly “imprints” in the water structure where the antibodies had been.
Other researchers failed to reproduce Benveniste’s experiments, but homeopaths still believe he may have been onto something. Benveniste himself does not think the new findings explain his results because the solutions were not dilute enough. “This [phenomenon] cannot apply to high dilution,” he says. Fred Pearce of University College London, who tried to repeat Benveniste’s experiments, agrees. But it could offer some clues as to why other less dilute homeopathic remedies work, he says. Large clusters and aggregates might interact more easily with biological tissue.
Double-check
Chemist Jan Enberts of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands is more cautious. “It’s still a totally open question,” he says. “To say the phenomenon has biological significance is pure speculation.” But he has no doubt Samal and Geckeler have discovered something new. “It’s surprising and worrying,” he says. The two chemists were at pains to double-check their astonishing results. Initially, they had used the scattering of a laser to reveal the size and distribution of the dissolved particles. To check, they used a scanning electron microscope to photograph films of the solutions spread over slides. This, too, showed that dissolved substances cluster together as dilution increased.
“It doesn’t prove homeopathy, but it’s congruent with what we think and is very encouraging,” says Peter Fisher, director of medical research at the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital. “The whole idea of high-dilution homeopathy hangs on the idea that water has properties which are not understood,” he says. “The fact that the new effect happens with a variety of substances suggests it’s the solvent that’s responsible. It’s in line with what many homeopaths say, that you can only make homeopathic medicines in polar solvents.” Geckeler and Samal are now anxious that other researchers follow up their work. “We want people to repeat it,” says Geckeler. “If it’s confirmed it will be groundbreaking”.
Journal reference: Chemical Communications (2001, p 2224)
NEW HEAVY WATER KILLS TADPOLES AND GUPPY FISH
Heavy water, containing the recently discovered double-weight hydrogen, kills tadpoles, guppy fish, and worms. Prof. W.W. Swingle of Princeton, using some of the rare heavy water manufactured by Princeton chemists, found that the extraordinary H2O, with 92 percent of its hydrogen atoms consisting of the isotope mass two (deuterium), is lethal to certain freshwater animals. Green frog tadpoles survived only an hour when placed in the heavy water. Tadpoles of the same sort immersed in distilled water that contained only 30 percent heavy water, lived happily and unaffected for 24 hours. Paramecia, one-celled organisms that are favorite biology experimental material, resisted the heavy water successfully for 24 hours.
A Wonderful Explanation of Osmosis, Diffusion and the Nerst Equation
Interactive Computer Animations Explain This Very Complex Subject !!!!
The Ultimate Water – The Elixir of Life
Hydroponic Reference Center Project Page
Site Link List –Element List – Hydroponic Salts
The Tortoise Shell Life Science Puzzle Box Front Page
Thirsty work!
Question
Alcohol causes dehydration. How does it do this and how much water do you have to drink to compensate for the effect? When drinking a gin and tonic, does the water in the tonic compensate for the effect of the alcohol, or does the fact that it is mixed with gin make it act differently in some way?
Answer (1)
The water balance of the body is achieved in the kidneys, more specifically in the distal tubule and collecting ducts of the nephron and is controlled by the hormone vasopressin, otherwise known as antidiuretic hormone or ADH. This hormone allows water to be reabsorbed from the urine into the blood, reducing the volume of urine produced. Alcohol inhibits the release of ADH from the posterior pituitary gland and therefore water is not reabsorbed from the urine, resulting in an increased urine volume. If this water loss is not subsequently replaced by drinking enough water then you’ll experience dehydration.
The diuretic effect of alcohol depends on the amount of alcohol ingested and not the volume in which it is dissolved. Therefore a unit of alcohol (listed by the British government’s medical advisers as a pub measure of spirits, a 125-milliliter glass of wine or half a pint of normal strength bitter or lager) should have a standard effect on an average human. But the duration of this effect will be influenced by the rate of ingestion and rate of metabolism of the alcohol, and there will be quantitatively different effects on different people depending on how well their liver is functioning and the rate of consumption.
The degree of dehydration will depend on the fluid lost in the urine and the volume of water ingested. So the greater the fluid intake, the less the dehydration. Drinking tonic with your gin will partly offset the fluid loss caused by the alcohol in the spirit. Drinking alcohol dissolved in large volumes, such as bitter or lager, will have less of a dehydrating effect. Of course, the hangover many of us have experienced the morning after consuming alcohol is caused partly by dehydration and it can be avoided or at least reduced by drinking a pint of water before retiring to bed.
Gwynfryn Chivers, Homerton School of Health Studies Cambridge
Answer (2)
Alcohol inhibits the release of ADH, so for any given water intake we excrete more of that water in the urine. Homer Smith (author of The Kidney: Structure and function in health and disease, Oxford University Press) reckoned that 1 milliliter of ethanol inhibited ADH to the extent that we lost an extra 10 milliliters of water in urine. Using this calculation we can roughly calculate that if your gin and tonic consist of 9% gin, your kidneys will be neutral as far as water balance is concerned. But because you still lose water via non-kidney routes you will actually make a net loss.
Drink wine, which is generally greater than 9% alcohol by volume, and you are even worse off. Most beers are about 5% alcohol by volume, so you benefit if that is your tipple, although switching to whiskey late in the evening as many drinkers may be tempted to do is not a good idea. Light beer or a gin and tonic made up to less than 2% alcohol will generally provide a net gain of water. Outside on a hot day, however, all bets are off because sweating increases our water loss by a large amount. The tip to drink water to offset such losses, especially before bedtime after a heavy evening, is a good one.
Shane Maloney, Perth, Western Australia
