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Water Discovered to Flow Like Molasses

By Ben Mauk  Special to LiveScience


posted: 11 May 2007 08:58 am ET





The Taoist poet Lao Tse famously wrote that water exemplifies the highest


good, benefiting all and flowing easily without effort. While this makes for


a lovely metaphor, there's more to H20 than is dreamt of in Lao Tse's


philosophies.





Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology have found that, at the


molecular level, water


<http://www.livescie nce.com/environm ent/041201_ water_bonds. html> exhibits


viscous, even solid-like properties.





When molecules of water are forced to move through a small gap between two


solid surfaces, the substance's viscosity


<http://www.livescie nce.com/strangen ews/060824_ longest_experime nts.html>


increases by a factor of 1,000 to 10,000, approaching that of molasses.





"In this small space between surfaces, the water, which is usually very


fluid, organizes itself into a new state in which well-defined layers of


molecules form," said Uzi Landmann, director of the Center for Computational


Materials Science at Georgia Tech, in a phone interview with Live Science.





Layering refers to a structural phenomenon in which molecules form strata


between which there is very little molecular exchange. Water molecules can


move about fluidly within a single layer, but not between layers. This


vertical structure resembles that found in solid substances.





Landmann directed the team of physicists that simulated the experiment and


predicted the layering effect. Georgia Tech experimental physicist Elisa


Riedo led the team that performed the actual experiments. Together they


found that the simulation predictions matched the experimental results.





The experiment observed the properties visualized in the simulation by


measuring the force required to push the solid walls together. Riedo found


that the force oscillates predictably, becoming largest at the point when a


layer of particles is squeezed out.





Riedo and Landmann's results stand at odds with long-held beliefs about


water.





"The literature almost uniformly said that water doesn't layer," said


Landmann. "Without direct evidence it was inferred that water would behave


differently from those liquids that do."





Previously, experiments had not measured the force directly but rather had


deduced it from other properties, since techniques at the time did not allow


scientists to probe the one nanometer region required to observe the effect.





The layering phenomenon has been known for about 25 years. Hexadecanes


(molecule chains of 16 carbon atoms) exhibit layering properties. These are


featured in many common liquids, but not in water.





Applications for the findings can be found in fields ranging from


pharmaceuticals to nanotechnology


<http://www.livescie nce.com/nanotech nology/>. The newfound viscosity of


water suggests a cheap method for lubricating very narrow regions. Water was


long thought too fluid to be useful for this purpose.





But it is not merely a matter of application, insists Landmann. "The


question of the nature of materials on the small scale is itself


fascinating. "





On that point even Lao Tse agrees: "Magnify the small, increase the few."





* Scientists Make Water Run Uphill


<http://www.livescie nce.com/environm ent/060329_ water_uphill. html>


* Quiz: What's Your Environmental Footprint?


<http://www.livescie nce.com/triviagr eenerfuture/>


* Water: More Mysterious Than You Thought


<http://www.livescie nce.com/forcesof nature/050524_ water_H15O. html>

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