The nature of water is a case study in like dissolves
like. Water molecules have an affinity for other water molecules.
There is such a thing as pure water – it comes in the form called
distilled water. This is plain water, pure and simple – consisting
of nothing but water and water. The distillation process involves
changing the form of water from a liquid to a vapor and then removing
the vapor phase into a separate glass container. The impurities are
left behind. This water is so clean that it does not conduct
electricity – the conductivity of distilled water is nearly zero.
This would not be very good drinking water. The idea
that there are no ions dissolved in the water clears the decks of
minerals – the healthy things that our bodies use as catalysts in
their biological systems. The idea of reasonably inert cations and
anions swimming in your drinking water is not likely to be an
exciting thought – but the quantities are limited and serve to
resupply your existing system – water flushing is a major
requirement for open living systems.
Water atoms align with each other whenever they are in
solution. The degree of alignment is very temperature dependent, as
the water slowly approaches the freezing state called ice – the
atoms of water come into alignment, either in great bulk as sheets of
ice, or in smaller form like snowflakes. Dr. Emoto's work
demonstrating the beauty of photographed crystals at peace is a work
of art within nature. Water appears to sense vibration at a level
that generates novel nucleation – crystal form grows emergent from
crystal form. But what is really happening at the micro-scale level
of crystalline chemistry?
Water like to share the hydrogen atoms it owns with
other water atoms. In a gathering of water, the oxygen atom is
surrounded by four hydrogen atoms in a tetrahedral array. In a
liquid – there is free movement and exchange and the individual
atom always retains its own two home hydrogen atoms, and constantly
has different visitors in the other two positions. Each adjacent
hydrogen that is not self, brings an oxygen atom from the water atom
that is self to another adjacent water molecule. To refresh –
elements are pure substances that exist as atoms. Atoms combine into
compounds in small whole number ratios. A molecule is a collection
of bound together atoms that has a stable recurrent form. Iron is an
element, rust is an iron compound, hemoglobin has iron atoms as part
of a complex organic molecule.
What does organic mean? Despite what your grocers
might suggest – all their produce is organic by the strict chemical
definition. Organic chemistry involves combinations of the four
elements hydrogen H, oxygen O, nitrogen N and carbon C, supplemented
by sulfur S and phosphorus P. The carbon structures provide several
backbone chains that have becomes keys to explaining all biochemical
life – known as proteins, enzymes, fats and lipids, carbohydrates,
nucleic acids and many other forms. The jump between biochemistry
and chemistry is mitigated by the presence of water as a form unto
itself – we can liken it to the air that we breathe on a human
scale. Everything small and living is all-contained by water.
Water is a solvent that aligns by nature of its polar
character to form a hydration sphere around every different solubilized ion. Ionic compounds are solids that can generally be
dissolved in water – the cations separate from the anions and each
are surrounded by water molecules. The cations have a positive
charge and attract the negative oxygen end of the water molecules,
the anions have a negative charge (extra electrons) and attract the
positive hydrogen end of the water molecule.
The size and charge of the cations and anions determine
how many water molecules appear in the cluster of waters that each
ion carries as a hydration sphere. This serves in a buffering
capacity – allowing ions to move freely about until the loss of
water causes an attraction between the ion pairs. If done slow
enough, one can grow crystals of a pure salt, simply by evaporating
water to form a super-saturated solution and allowing it to cool
about a center of nucleation.
Water
is included in the crystal lattice in many cases – the chemical
forms of these salts (ion pairs of balanced charge) are sold as
hydrates. Chemicals that can pick up water from the air are called
hygroscopic and should be stored in a dessicator. This is a closed
system where a more hygroscopic molecule like P2O5
is allowed to take water slowly away from the other chemical –
rendering it dry. Drierite is a commercial clay compound that serves
the same function or those little packages of silica beads packed
with electronics. Using dry chemicals in chemistry is very
important, as the water can be involved in less than desired
chemistry of organic syntheses. Water tends to get in the way – so
drying is an important step of many chemical processes.
If you know where the water molecules are, you can
figure out their role in what they are doing. Water is an essential
ingredient in cooking – whether it be hydrating dried beans or the
solvent for soups. Drinking water is different than drinking
beverages containing water. I attempt to drink two glasses of water
each day, in addition to the many cups of coffee and tea that are the
functional drivers of my between-meal system. Seeing that the
plumbing is working is a function of growing old – we can assume
responsibility for our own medical status by tracking the flow of
water through our systems – noticing color changes in urine as a
function of concentration – the light color, the more flushing of
the system. Vitamins and minerals tend to be water soluble and get
conveyed to the organs where they are metabolized and restocked
during the sleeping process, so to speak.
Thus ends the second lesson on he nature of water.
Please feel free to ask questions about the concepts that may seem
foreign – this is written as a primer for new students as well as
old hands and should remain entertaining on several different levels.
By dealing with the concepts of everything is a solvent with some
water content, we can begin to create a think framework as a basis of
thought – we are large sacks of water and the water itself creates
the seeds of consciousness. All water is created equal, but the
memory of water demonstrates that water in use has vastly different
properties than water in bulk. I hope to investigate this thought
next time.
Namaste' doc 040913 111113
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