ABOUT FORMS OF WATER (text copied from wikipedia) > Like many substances, watercan take numerous forms that are broadly categorized by phase of matter. The liquid phaseis the most common among waters phases (within the Earths atmosphere and surface) and is the form that is generally denoted by the word water. The solid phaseof water is known as iceand commonly takes the structure of hard, amalgamated crystals, such as ice cubes, or loosely accumulated granularcrystals, like snow. For a list of the many different crystalline and amorphousforms of solid H2O, see the article ice. The gaseous phaseof water is known as water vapor(or steam), and is characterized by water assuming the configuration of a transparent cloud. (Note that visible steam and clouds are, in fact, water in the liquid form as minute droplets suspended in the air.) The fourth state of water, that of a supercritical fluid, is much less common than the other three and only rarely occurs in nature, in extremely uninhabitable conditions. When water achieves a specific critical temperatureand a specific critical pressure(647 Kand 22.064 MPa), liquid and gas phase merge to one homogeneous fluid phase, with properties of both gas and liquid. One example of naturally occurring supercritical water is found in the hottest parts of deep water hydrothermal vents, in which water is heated to the critical temperature by scalding volcanic plumesand achieves the critical pressure because of the crushing weight of the ocean at the extreme depths at which the vents are located. Additionally, anywhere there is volcanic activity below a depth of 2.25 km (1.40 mi) can be expected to have water in the supercritical phase.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 08:57:07 +0000
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