Page 79 - The Miracle in the Atom

The Second Step On The Path To Matter: Molecules

temperature. At room temperature, oxygen and hydrogen react very slowly.
Oxygen and hydrogen, when free, are found as H and O molecules. To
2 2
combine to form the water molecule, they must collide. As a result of this
collision, the bonds forming the hydrogen and oxygen molecules weaken,
leaving no hindrance for the combination of oxygen and hydrogen atoms.
Temperature raises the energy and therefore, the speed of these molecules,
resulting in an increase in the number of collisions. Thus, it accelerates the
course of the reaction. However, currently, no temperature high enough to
form water exists on earth. The heat required for the formation of water was
supplied during the formation of the earth, which resulted in the emergence
of so much water as to cover three quarters of the earth's surface. At pre-
sent, water evaporates and rises to the atmosphere where it cools and re-
turns to the earth in the form of rain. That is, there is no increase in the
quantity; only a perpetual cycle.

The Miraculous Properties of Water
Water has many exceptional chemical properties. Every water mole-
cule forms by the combination of hydrogen and oxygen atoms. It is quite in-
teresting that these two gases, one combustive and the other combustible,
combine to form a liquid, and most interestingly, water.
Now, let us briefly see how water is formed chemically. The electrical
charge of water is zero, that is, it is neutral. Yet, due to the sizes of the oxygen
and hydrogen atoms, the oxygen component of the
water molecule has a slightly negative charge
and its hydrogen component has a slightly
positive charge. When more than one wa-
ter molecule come together, positive and Water
negative charges attract each other to form Molecule
a very special bond called "the hydrogen
bond". The hydrogen bond is a very weak

Oxygen
Hydrogen Hydrogen
H O
2

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