WATER

Water is tramparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance that is the main
constituent of Earth’s streams, lakes, and oceans,and the fluids of most living organisens, and that
is vital for all known forms of life, even though it provides no colories or organic nutrients. Its
chemical formula is H2O, meaning that each of its molecules contains one oxygen and two
hydrogen atoms connected by covalent boods. Water is the name of the liquid state of H2O at
standard ambient temperature and prewure. It forms precipitation in the form of rain and acrosols
in the form of fog. Clouds are formed from suspended droplets of water and ice, its solid state.
When finely divided , crystalline ice mary precipitate in the form of snow. The gaseous state of
water is steam or water vapor. Water moves continually through the water cycle of evaporation,
transpiration (evapo transpiration ), condensation,precipitation, and runoff, usually reaching the
sea.
Water covers 71% of the Earth’s surface, mostlyin seasand oceans. Small portions of water occur
as groundwater (1,7%), in the glaciers and the ice caps of Antarctica and Greenland (1,7%), and
in the air as vapor, clouds (formed of ice and liquid water suspended in air),and precipitation
(0,001%).
Water plays an important role in the world economy, Approximately 70% of the fresh water used
by humans goes to agriculture. Fishing in salt and fresh water bodies is a major source of food for
many parts of thhe world. Much of long –distance trade of commodities (such as oil and natural
gas) and manufactured products is transported by boats through seas, rivers, lakes and canals.
Large quantities of water, ice, and steam are used for cooling and heating, in industry and homes.
Water is an excellent solvent for a wide variety of chemical substances, as such it is widely used
in industrial processes, and in cooking and washing. Water is also central to many sports and other
forms of entertainment, such as swimming, pleasure boating, boat racing, surfing, sport fishing,
and diving.
Taste and odor
Pure water is usually described as tasteless and odorless, although humans have specific sensors
that can feel the presence of water in their mouths, and frogs are known to be able to smell it.
However, water from ordinary sources (including bottled mineralwater) usually has many
dissolved substances, that may give it varying tastes and odors. Humans and other animals have
developed senses that enable them to evaluate the potability of water by avoiding water that is too
salty or putrid.
Color and appearance
The apparent color of natural bodies of water ( and swimming pools ) is often determined more by
dissolved and suspended solids, or by reflection of the sky, than by water itself.
Light in the visible electromagnetic spectrum can traverse a couple meters of pure water (or ice)
without significant absorption, so that it looks transparent and colorless. This aquatic plants, and
other photosynthetic organisms can live in water up to hundreds of meters deep, because sunlight
can reach them. Water vapour is essentially invisible as a gas.
Through a thickness of 10 meters (33ft) or more , however, the intrinsic color of water (or ice) is
visibly turquoise (greenish blue),as its absorption spectrums has a sharp minimum at the
corresponding color of light (1/227m-¹ at 418 nm). The color becomes increasingly stronger and
darker with increasing thickness (Practically no sunlight reaches the parts of the oceans below
1,000 meters (3,300 ft) of depth.). infrared and ultraviolet light , on the other hand, is strongly
absorbed by water .
The refraction index of liquid water (1.333 at 20ºC (68ºF)) is much higher than that of air (1.0),
similar to those of alkanes and ethanol, but lower than those of glycerol (1.473), benzene (1.501),
carbon disulfide (1.627), and common types of glass (1.4 to 1.6). The refraction index of ice (1.31)
is lower than that of liquid water.
Hydrology is the study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water throughtout the Earth.
The study of the distribution of water is hydrography. The study of the distribution and movement
of groundwater is hydrogeology , of glaciers is glaciology, of inland waters is limnology and
distribution of oceans is oceanography. Ecological processes with hydrology are in focus of
ecohydrology.
The collective mass of water found on, under, and over the surface of planet is called the
hydrosphere Earth’s approximate water volume ( the total water supply of the world) is 1.338
billion cubic kilometers (321-10^6 cu mi ).
Liquid water is found in bodies of water, such as an ocean, sea, lake, river, stream, canal, pond, or
puddle. The majority of water on Earth is sea water. Water is also present in the atmosphere in
solid, liquid,and vapor states. It also exists as ground water in aquifers.
Water is important in manygeological processes. Groundwater is present in most rocks, and the
pressure of this groundwater affects patterns of faulting. Water in the mantle is responsible for the
melt that produces volcanoes at subduction zones. On the surface of the Earth, water is important
in both chemical and physical weathering processes. Water, and to a lasser but stil significant
extent, ice are also responsible for a large amount of sediment transport that occurs on the surface
of the Earth. Deposition of transported sediment forms many types of sedimentary ,which make
up the geologic record of Earth history.