The water molecule is a

dipole having both a +

and a - pole.
The 2 lone pairs of have a
repelling effect on the
bonding pairs, thus
decreasing the bond
angle down to 104,5
0
.
Lone pairs
-
+
The angular
water molecule
H
O
H
Angular molecule
1
Waters unique features are due to hydrogen
bonding in the solid, liquid and gaseous phases.
Water Ice
Water vapour
Hydrogen
bond
Hydrogen bonds in water
2
1mol (18 g) of water contains 6,02 x 10
23
water
molecules.

In 1 litre (or 1dm
3
) of water
there are 55,5 moles of water
and thus 3,34 x 10
25
water molecules!
This is huge!

With the relatively strong hydrogen bonds
between water molecules, much energy is
required to break the bonds and get the
temperature to rise even by 1
0
C.

3
Conversely, much energy is liberated when water
cools by 1
0
C. Water can thus absorb much heat
from the sun without evaporating too quickly.

The sea can thus act as a heat reservoir and
enables the Earth to
experience a moderate
climate as the sea
absorbs and liberates
heat to/from the land.
4
This table
clearly
indicates that
water has a
boiling point
about 200 K
degrees
above what
we would
expect.
This higher B.P. is as a result of the stronger
hydrogen bonds compared with van der Waals
forces in the other molecules.
Boiling H2O
Boiling at altitude
5
Density is the mass per unit volume of a
substance. Density = mass/volume.

As water freezes from 4
0
C down to 0
0
C, it
liberates much heat and expands at the same
time, as fewer water molecules are now
bonded to other water molecules in ice
compared to that in water liquid.

This liberation of energy as water freezes,
helps control the moderate temperature of the
Earth and its climate.
Density
Dead sea floating
Water freezing 6
As water cools like most
substances, it contracts and
the density increases to a
value of 1 g/cm
3
at 4
0
C.
As it cools further to 0
0
C, it then expands and
the density decreases to a value of 0.999 g/cm
3
.

This lower density for ice, explains
why ice floats on water with
most of the ice below the water
surface.
Iceberg
7
Water freezes from the top down (only liquid
to do so) and forms an insulating layer
between the water below and the
atmosphere above thereby preventing all
the water from freezing and thus preserving
aquatic life below.
Notice that the
thickness of the ice
is only about 40 cm.
Fishing on frozen lake 8