Because bonds in the water molecule are very polar and make an angle of about 104є with each other, the molecule is very polar. Water's polarity accounts for its unusual specific and latent heats, its high surface tension, and its ability to dissolve ionic and polar molecular substances. Water reacts chemically only very slowly with most substances unless a catalyst is present to lower the energy of activation.
Water - Water consists of two hydrogen atom and one oxygen atom (H2O). Water covers three-fourths of the Earth's surface, 60-70% of the world's weight, regenerates and redistributes through evaporation and other atmospheric processes. Water is involved in electrical charge separation because it has two types and positions of atoms giving it a net dipole movement. Water vapor also absorbs 17% of solar radiation in the troposphere, thus making it one of the two principal greenhouse gases. Of the solar energy absorbed by the Earth's surface a little more than half goes into latent heat, which is heat absorbed by water because of its transformation from a liquid to a gas. When these molecules condense back into a liquid, usually higher in the atmosphere, they released that energy back into the atmosphere as local warming.
Atmospheric Chemistry Glossary |
