Science Challenge Result # 1 - Have we mastered the science of water?

pisolutionsmru (58)in #steemstem • 8 years ago

We all know that we have only 20% of water which is drinkable to humans but can science create more water for us?

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The quick answer

Science have made really good progress on how to remove impurities from water. With the use of nano tubes, scientists are able to separate impurities and other molecules from water. This is well explained in the Tedx Talk video below by on "The weirdness of water could be the answer" by Marcia Barbosa.

The winners

The right answer to the question "What happens when sea water flows through nano tubes?" is B - The water molecules accelerates through the nano tubes while leaving the salt particles behind.

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The post payout is in some 12 hours but we already have the winners (18 in total):

@mental-extract , @dexterdev , @diebitch , @biolegria , @enginewitty , @mitneb , @cobmaximus , @dcardozo25 , @ailenepm , @steemcasper , @nihalmaz , @almostpeter , @twistytango , @aquamarine , @chillpill , @animaya , @mulyadi.alwi , @royaleagle

Congratulations to all the winners!!!!!

What are nano tubes?

Nano tubes are most commonly made of carbon. More precisely they are allotropes of carbon. Carbon is one of the most abundant material on our Earth and scientists have been able to devise ways to create nano tubes out of them.

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The nanotubes are shaped in cylindrical fashion and have unique properties that allow for nanotechnology, electronics, optics and other fields of materials science and technology. The nano tubes are 10 to the power of -9 meters in diameter. It allows liquids with high viscosity to flow through it.

Why can water molecules flow through nano tubes?

Water have very unique properties that allows it to be so viscous. Water has a viscosity of 1 which makes it a perfect liquid and all other liquids use water as a reference. Water molecules have very strong covalent bonds as there is an equal amount of negatively charged oxygen and positively charged hydrogen.

These makes the bonds of water molecules very strong. Even when we heat water and their is boiling and evaporation, the bonds between the Oxygen and Hydrogen atoms do not break. Apart from this strong bond, there is a weak bond between each Hydrogen atoms.

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Polar molecules, such as water molecules, have weak Hydrogen bonds which are formed with nearby Hydrogen atoms. This allows Hydrogen molecules to 'dance' freely in water like ions and this makes water a positively charged liquid. This is the reason why water is a very good conductor of electricity. The positive Hydrogen ions attract the negative electrons, which is electricity.

These weak Hydrogen bonds is what allows water to flow through nano tubes. They attract nearby water molecules, thereby making a chain, which enables water to flow. This weak and yet powerful Hydrogen bond allows water to flow through nano tubes and keep other impurities like salt, dust and other particles to stay behind when passing through a nano tube.

Can we have more fresh water?

The technology is really innovative as it allows us to desalinate the ocean. This means removing salt and other minerals from water so that we can have drinkable water. The ocean covers 95% of the earth and is a great source of water if we can exploit it.

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With nano technologies, we can tame sea water and drink it. Yet is comes at a high cost. Currently we do not have a cheap way of making nano tubes. As stated in the video above, research is still on going on how to make the technology cheaper and if we follow Moore's law, this is just a mere decade away. Does this sound lie freedom? It surely looks like it but will big corporations make it available to everyone at a reasonable cost is the biggest question.

Conclusion

Congratulations to all the winners. Your rewards will be sent to you in some 12 hours when the post will payout. A great thanks to the steemSTEM community which helped increase the reward for all participants!

The next science quiz will be out tomorrow in some 12 hours so stay tuned if you want to participate in the lazy Saturday contest.

Feeling enlightened and happy to find out about water? Why not play the Steemit Lotto Game on this post to change your mind: Steemit Lotto Weekly # 13 - Minimum Pot Size 51 STEEM!!!!