General Chemistry Anomalous Expansion of Water
General Chemistry Anomalous Expansion of Water
General Chemistry Anomalous Expansion of Water
Normally, liquids contract on cooling & the density increases. However, water is special. It
contracts when cooled, down to a temperature of 4°C but thereafter begins to expand as it
reaches 0°C and turns into ice.
Water attains its maximum density at 4°C. This is caused by the hydrogen bonding between
the oxygen atoms that are negatively charged and the hydrogen atoms that are positively
charged, from two different molecules of water. The density of ice is lower, and so it floats on
water.
This phenomenon is useful for the preservation of marine life in very cold temperatures.
During winter, the surface water in water lakes and rivers starts cooling. Upon reaching the
temperature of 4°C, the surface water descends to the bottom as it denser. Upon further
cooling to freezing point, a temperature gradient is set up in depths of the water body
whereby, the bottom-most layer is at 4°C and the temperature gradually drops towards the
surface where it is ice. . Further, water and ice are not good conductors of heat.
All this help in the maintenance of temperature of the water at the bottom at 4°C. It is in this
layer that marine life is able to sustain itself. Had water been like any other liquid, the whole
depth of the water would have been frozen and aquatic life would have been destroyed
completely.
Another, lesser known advantage is - some 10% of the oceans is covered by sea ice some part
of the year. Ocean water freezes just like freshwater, but at lower temperatures. Fresh water
freezes at 0°C whereas seawater freezes at about -2°C, because of the salt content. When sea
ice forms, most of the salt is pushed into the ocean water below the ice, leaving very little salt
trapped in small pockets between ice crystals.
Thousands of icebergs from the polar regions are just melting in the oceans. And since
icebergs float, George Mougin, an entrepreneurial engineer from Newfoundland, aspires to
tow multi-million ton icebergs to areas of the world lacking sufficient potable water.
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In ice, the hydrogen bonds form a cage like structure, which is not there in liquid form. That
explains why density of water decreases as a solid, unlike what is expected. Liquid water is
densest, essentially 1.00 g/cm³, at 4 °C and becomes less dense as the water molecules begin
to form the hexagonal crystals of ice as the freezing point is reached. This is due to hydrogen
bonding dominating the inter molecular forces, which results in a packing of molecules less
compact in the solid. As you start heating ice, the hydrogen bonds break and the ice melts.
All the hydrogen bonds are broken by the time it reaches 4 °C. Hence density is maximum at
this point. From here onwards it behaves as a normal liquid, expanding as more heat is
applied.
Water is different. With most everything on Earth except freshwater, the colder it gets, the
more dense it becomes. Take alcohol for instance. If we were to fill up a 1 liter container with
pure alcohol at 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) and then take another 1 liter container and
fill it with pure alcohol at 10 degrees Celsius (50 Fahrenheit) the cooler container of alcohol
would weigh more. This is because the cooler alcohol is more dense, so more alcohol
molecules can fit in the same container. This is true with freshwater too, up to a point. But at
about 4 degrees Celsius (40 Fahrenheit) water reaches its densest point. Amazingly, as water
cools further, it actually becomes less dense.
Each water molecule is made of 2 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom. These are connected
to one another by very strong chemical bonds called covalent bonds. Water molecules are
connected to each other by much weaker chemical bonds called hydrogen bonds between
the positively charged hydrogen atoms, and one negatively charged oxygen atom in a
neighboring water molecule.
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As water gets colder than 4 degrees Celsius (40 Fahrenheit) the hydrogen bonds connecting
different water molecules adjust to keep the negatively charged oxygen atoms apart. This
results in a crystal latice which begins to form at less than 4 degrees Celsius. This crystal latice
is completely formed at freezing, and is commonly known as ice.
So, why does ice float? Like most things that float, ice floats because it is less dense than liquid
water. Ice is about 9% less dense. When ice forms, it takes up about 9% more space than it
did as a liquid. Thus, a 1 liter container of ice weighs less than a 1 liter container of liquid
water, and the lighter material floats to the top. As we said, water is different.
In one word the density is responsible for the anomalous expansion of water. When
temperature falls, the top layer of water contracts, becomes denser and sinks to the bottom.
A circulation is thus set up until the entire water reaches its maximum density at 4°C. If the
temperature falls further, the top layer expands and remains on the top till it freezes. Thus
even though the upper layer are frozen the water near the bottom is at 4°C.
SCIENTIFIC REASON
Anomalous expansion of water takes place because when water is heated to 277K hydrogen
bonds are formed. Though ice is supposed to expand when it is converted into water, this
gradual formation of hydrogen bonds causes it to contract, i.e. the contraction caused due
to the formation of hydrogen bonds is greater than the actual expansion of ice. At 277K
water has the maximum density because all the hydrogen bonds are formed by 277K
beyond which water obeys the kinetic theory of molecules, an increase in volume when
heated and the reverse when cooled. The same thing happens in the reverse when water is
cooled beyond 277K.
A common observation seen in the behaviour of the substances is that they expand when
heated as the density decreases and vice versa takes place when the material is cooled. This
is how substances generally react to heat. Let us now look at how water behaves when
heated.
The general tendency of cold water remains unchanged until 4o C. The density of water
gradually increases as you cool it. When you reach 4oC, it’s density reaches a maximum.
What water does next will astound you. When you cool it further to make some ice, i.e. 0oC,
water expands with a further drop in temperature, meaning the density of water decreases
when you cool it from 4oC to 0oC. The below graph explains this behaviour.
The effect of this expansion of water is that the coldest water is always present on the
surface. Since water at 4oC is the heaviest, this water settles on the bottom of the water
body and the lightest ie the coldest layer accumulates on the top layer. So in the winter, the
top of the water is always the first to freeze over. Since ice and water both are a bad
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conductor of heat, this top layer of ice insulates the rest of the water body from the cold of
the winter, thereby protecting all the life in the water body. Now you can truly comprehend
how essential the anomalous properties of water are for life.
A water molecule is made of one oxygen atom combined with two hydrogen atoms as
shown below. At normal temperature, the water molecules are held together in a liquid state
because of the intermolecular attraction of the water molecules. In a liquid state, the water
molecules are constantly whizzing around in the container and are constantly being
rearranged.
Keep in mind that Hydrogen too contributes to the intermolecular attraction. The attraction
between the hydrogen atoms of one water molecules and the oxygen atom of another
water molecule is also present. The distance between the H-O bond is more than the O-O
attraction in the water. On cooling water, the rate at which the molecules are whizzing
around decreases as they lose energy. On further cooling, the water molecules start
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squeezing together, increasing their density. At 4oC the density reaches its maximum and
after this, the water molecules can squeeze no further.
So, the water freezing over into ice is held together not by the O-O attraction but by the H-
O attraction. The lattice arrangement of ice prevents the movement of water molecules. But
since the H-O is not quite as tight as the O-O bond, it experiences a little expansion once
the H-O bond takes over. It is like people packed in a busy subway, more of them can fit
into the subway if they tuck their hands inside their pockets than if they all hold hands and
stand. This arrangement although is stronger, but it also occupies more space. Water
experiences this same effect.
Generally, the volume of substances increases on heating and decreases in cooling. But
when water is heated from 0 degree Celsius to 4 degree Celsius, its volume decreases and
increases only after 4 degree Celsius. This unusual behavior of water from 0 degree Celsius
to 4 degree Celsius is known as anomalous expansion of water. As density is inversely
proportional to volume, so, density of water increases from 0 degree Celsius to 4 degree
Celsius. At 4 degree Celsius, water has minimum volume and maximumdensity.
The graphical representation of volume and density of water with temperature is given
below:
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Hence, aquatic life can survive when temperature falls below 0 degree Celsius, As we know,
water has minimum volume of 4 degree Celsius. So, due to anomalous expansion of water,
whether it is heated or cooled, and its volume increases and so it overflows from the beaker.
In refrigerator when temperature falls below 4 degree Celsius to 0 degree Celsius, due to
anomalous expansion of water, water in the bottle expands. Since there is no space for
expansion of water filled in the bottle, it exerts larger force in the walls of bottle and it
bursts. Bottles of soft drink are kept in refrigerator for cooling water, temperature of
refrigerator falls below from 4 degree Celsius to 0 degree Celsius, water in the bottle of soft
drink expands due to anomalous expansion of water, and that empty space is filled with
water which prevent the bottle from bursting. In cold countries, water pipes expand. Since,
there is no space for expansion, water exerts large force on the wall of pipe and it bursts.
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The high cohesion between molecules gives it a high freezing and melting point, such that
we and our planet are bathed in liquid water. The large heat capacity, high thermal
conductivity and high water content in organisms contribute to thermal regulation and
prevent local temperature fluctuations, thus allowing us to control our body temperature
more easily. The high latent heat of evaporation gives resistance to dehydration and
considerable evaporative cooling. It has unique hydration properties towards important
biological macromolecules (particularly proteins and nucleic acids) that determine their
three-dimensional structures, and hence their biological functions, in solution. This
hydration forms gels that can reversibly undergo the gel-sol phase transitions that underlie
many cellular mechanisms [351]. Water ionizes and allows easy proton exchange between
molecules, so contributing to the richness of the ionic interactions in biology. It easily picks
up positive charge when brushing against al materials tested except for air where it picks up
a negative charge [2703]. Also, it is an excellent solvent due to its polarity, high relative
permittivity (dielectric constant) and small size, particularly for polar and ionic compounds
and salts.
At 4 °C water expands on heating or cooling. This density maximum together with the low
ice density results in (i) the necessity that all of a body of fresh water (not just its surface) is
close to 4 °C before any freezing can occur, (ii) the freezing of rivers, lakes, and oceans is
from the top down, so permitting survival of the bottom ecology, insulating the water from
further freezing, reflecting back sunlight into space, and allowing rapid thawing, and (iii)
density driven thermal convection causing seasonal mixing in deeper temperate waters
carrying life-providing oxygen into the depths. The large heat capacity of the oceans and
seas allows them to act as heat reservoirs such that sea temperatures vary only a third as
much as land temperatures and so moderate our planet's climate (for example, the Gulf
stream carries tropical warmth to northwestern Europe). The compressibility of water
reduces the sea level by about 40 m giving us 5% more land [65]. Water's high surface
tension plus its expansion on freezing encourages the erosion of rocks to provide soil for
our agriculture.
Notable amongst the anomalies of water is the opposite properties of hot and cold
water, b with the anomalous behavior more accentuated at low temperatures where the
properties of supercooled water often diverge from those of hexagonal ice. In particular,
several properties of water change at about 50 °C [2755]; just above the body temperature
of mammals and about which many proteins denature. As (supercooled) cold liquid water is
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heated individual molecules shrink, bulk water shrinks and becomes less easy to compress,
its refractive index increases, the speed of sound within it increases, gases become less
soluble and it is easier to heat and conducts heat better. In contrast, as hot liquid water is
heated it expands, it becomes easier to compress, its' refractive index reduces, the speed of
sound within it decreases, gases become more soluble, it is harder to heat, and it is a
poorer conductor of heat. With increasing pressure, individual molecules expand, cold water
molecules move faster but hot water molecules move slower. Hot water freezes faster than
cold water and ice melts when compressed except at high pressures when liquid
water freezes when compressed.
increase upon cooling below about +43 °C, and down to the homogeneous ice nucleation
temperature (≈ -45 °C), instead of decreasing as expected. In liquids, it is generally expected
that the entropy and volume are positively correlated with their fluctuations decreasing as
the temperature decreases. In water however, the entropy and volume are negatively
correlated with a volume increase bringsing an entropy decrease.
Hierarchy of anomalous properties of water, from [169]
The anomalies of water appear as a hierarchy of effects with different bounds [169]. These
are shown indicatively opposite as derived from modeling, not experimental data. The
‘Structural’ bounds indicate where water is more disordered when compressed, the
‘Dynamic’ bounds indicate where diffusion increases with density, and the ‘Thermodynamic’
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Other anomalies of water are caused by the onset of interpenetration at about 200 MPa,
such as the high-pressure CP anomaly [2929], the density-distance paradox and the fast-
sound anomaly.
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Rationale for the low-temperature anomalies of liquid water
Four different scenarios have been suggested:
(1a) The stability limit conjecture. There is a limit (a singularity) to the mechanical stability
of water at -45°C [1886, 2995]. This was suggested to be associated with the cooperative
formation of an open hydrogen-bonded network.
(2a) A liquid-liquid critical point (LLCP) [3753]. Increasingly, scientists attribute the low-
temperature anomalous nature of water to the presence of a metastable second critical
point at about -50°C (under pressure) when high-density liquid water and low-density liquid
water no longer coexist within the same phase [2930, 3134] but split into different phases,
separated by a first-order phase transition.
(2b) A critical point free scenario. The “fragile-to-strong ” transition for supercooled water,
rather than a critical point, is interpreted as the reason for the anomalies in supercooled
water [312l].
It has recently been established that scenario 1b is inconsistent with the evidence and
a second critical point exists [2144 e,f, 2602, 2930, 3202, 3134, 3420, 3851]. The existing data
supporting the other scenarios are all consistent with scenario 2a. Water's anomalies do not
require scenario 2a as an explanation, but it does seem likely [2947] that there is such a
phenomenon and it would cause the attributed effects. The liquid-liquid critical point
scenario does not contain any information concerning the structure of the two phases
involved and, in this respect, it is a somewhat unproductive hypothesis as a sole explanation
of these anomalies (as the attribution mixes cause with effect, as agreed by others [1859].
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Liquid water may, therefore, be considered as a supercritical fluid that fluctuates between a
low and a high-density liquid states. A description of the structures is given elsewhere.
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Water phase anomalies d
18. 'Fast sound' is found at high frequencies and shows a discontinuity at higher
pressure. [Explanation]
19. NMR spin-lattice relaxation time is very small at low temperatures. [Explanation]
20. The NMR shift increases to a maximum at low (supercooled) temperatures
[Explanation]
21. The refractive index of water has a maximum value at just below 0 °C. [Explanation]
22. The change in volume as liquid changes to gas is very large. [Explanation]
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Water material anomalies
1. No aqueous solution is ideal. [Explanation]
2. D2O and T2O differ significantly from H2O in their physical properties. [Explanation]
3. Liquid H2O and D2O differ significantly in their phase behavior. [Explanation]
4. H2O and D 2O ices differ significantly in their quantum behavior. [Explanation]
5. The mean kinetic energy of water's hydrogen atoms increases at low temperature
(disputed). [Explanation]
6. Solutes have varying effects on properties such as density and viscosity. [Explanation]
7. The solubilities of non-polar gases in water decrease with temperature to a minimum
and then rise. [Explanation]
8. The dielectric constant of water and ice are high. [Explanation]
9. The relative permittivity shows a temperature maximum. [Explanation]
10. The relative permittivity shows a 'kink' in its behavior with the temperature at 60 °C.
[Explanation]
11. The imaginary part of the dielectric constant shows a minimum near 20 K.
[Explanation]
12. Proton and hydroxide ion mobilities are anomalously fast in an electric field.
[Explanation]
13. The electrical conductivity of water rises to a maximum at about 230 °C. [Explanation]
14. The electrical conductivity of water rises considerably with frequency. [Explanation]
15. Acidity constants of weak acids show temperature minima. [Explanation]
16. X-ray diffraction shows an unusually detailed structure. [Explanation]
17. Under high pressure water molecules move further away from each other with
increasing pressure; a density-distance paradox. [Explanation]
18. Water adsorption may cause negative electrical resistance. [Explanation]
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Water thermodynamic anomalies
1. The heat of fusion of water with temperature exhibits a maximum at -17 °C.
[Explanation]
2. Water has over twice the specific heat capacity of ice or steam. [Explanation]
3. The specific heat capacity (CP and CV) is unusually high. [Explanation]
4. The specific heat capacity CP has a minimum at 36 °C. [Explanation]
5. The specific heat capacity (CP) has a maximum at about -45 °C. [Explanation]
6. The specific heat capacity (CP) has a minimum with respect to pressure. [Explanation]
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The figure above shows some of the anomalous properties of liquid water that are related
to temperature. The graph uses data that have been scaled between their maximum and
minimum values within this range (see original data). Note, in particular, the different
behaviors at high and low temperatures that is in marked contrast to the behavior of simple
liquids, whose thermodynamic properties vary in a monotonic manner with temperature.
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References:
https://www.quora.com/Water-What-is-the-scientific-reason-for-the-anomalous-expansion-of-
water
https://byjus.com/physics/properties-of-water-anomalous-expansion-of-water/
https://www.kullabs.com/classes/subjects/units/lessons/notes/note-detail/497
http://www1.lsbu.ac.uk/water/water_anomalies.html
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Anomalous_expansion_of_water
https://www.toppr.com/content/concept/anomalous-expansion-of-water-210020/
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