Hi, I am Bozzly, the water molecule. Join me with my band of molecule friends as we experience the phase changes of water into the very cup of lemonade you are holding right now. The first amazing phase change will transform us into a liquid. Right now my friends and I are tightly bonded together and cannot move around very much. Can you spot us? I think you have. We are the thick ice cubes that are at the bottom of your empty cup. I guess you liked the lemonade very much! Now going from a solid to a liquid requires heat energy, which will result in melting. Since it is a hot day outside the heat is able to break the solid bonds in the ice. Watch closely as we ice molecules start to melt. This is because the ice is absorbing the heat energy. The bonds of the solid ice are slowly breaking down and soon we molecules become free to flow and move around.
English: The tetrahedral configuration of water mo...
Water molecules attaching to each other by hydroge...
Hydrogen bonds in liquid water molecular dynamics ...Now that our ice molecules have warmed, being a liquid is quite nice. We liquid molecules are free to move around, but my friends and I remain close by each other.
Now that my friends and I are a liquid, we will miraculously change into the next phase: a gas. If you have the time, you can see this happen. Set the cup you are holding right now on the table and pull up a chair to watch this scientific process. For us to change into a gas, we liquid water molecules must vaporize. During this process, we must absorb heat energy to escape from the liquid phase. Changes in temperature affects the rate that it takes us water molecules to absorb heat in order to evaporate. Since...