Water – nature's magician

Water is the solvent, the medium and the participant in most of the chemical reactions occurring in our environment.

Water is at once simple and complex. A water molecule itself is simple, made up of three atoms: two hydrogen and one oxygen, H₂0. The configuration of these building blocks produces a molecule with almost magical properties.

Water: visible and invisible

On earth, water is found as a liquid, as a solid (ice) or as a gas (water vapour).

• Canada has about 7% of the world's renewable freshwater supply, compared with 18% for Brazil, 9% for China, and 8% for the United States.
• The ice we skate on in winter is water in its solid form. Unlike most substances, which are densest in their solid state, ice is less dense than water and thus floats. If this were not the case, lakes and rivers would freeze from the bottom up. Fish could not survive, and it is unlikely that rivers and lakes in northern countries would ever completely thaw.
• Water vapour forms a kind of global "blanket" which helps to keep the earth warm. Heat radiated from the sun-warmed surface of the earth is absorbed and held by the vapour.

Water's magical properties

Water molecules are attracted to each other, creating hydrogen bonds. These strong bonds determine almost every physical property of water and many of its chemical properties too.

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