Properties of water and their importance to the natural world

"When the well is dry, we know the worth of water."-Benjamin Franklin (Poor Richard Almanac, 1746) Water is a polar molecule with covalent bonding between the electronegative oxygen atom and the hydrogen atoms. Plainly stated, polarity refers to how polar a chemical bond is. To find the polarity one must take the difference between the electronegativities. If the result is below 1.8 and above 0.3, the bond is polar. Thus the attraction of polarity is electrical, slightly …

…temperature above this water expand as heated and contracts as it cools. The hydrogen bonding helps forming a lattice keeping four water molecules closer far enough to make it 10% les dense that water. The ability of ice to float because of the expansion of ice as it solidifies an important factor in the fitness of the environment. Floating of ice allows life to exist under the frozen surface in lakes as well as polar seas.