水的第四阶段：超越固体、液体和蒸汽 The Fourth Phase of Water - Beyond Solid, Liquid, and Vapor.pdfVIP

14/EDGESCIENCE#16•NOVEMBER2013

GeraldH.Pollack

TheFourthPhaseofWater:

BeyondSolid,Liquid,andVapor

owcanaJesusChristlizardwalkonwater?Whydopollencommonlynegative(Figure1).Absorbedradiantenergysplits

H

grainsjitterbuginapuddle?Whydofairweathercloudswatermolecules;thenegativemoietyconstitutesthebuild-

formsuchlovelypuffywhiteshapes?WhydoyourjointsworkingblockoftheEZ,whilethepositivemoietybindswith

withoutsqueaking?Whydoeswatershowadensitymaximumwatermoleculestoformfreehydroniumions,whichdiffuse

at4°C?throughoutthewater.(Hydroniumiswhatyougetwhenyou

Answeringthesequestionsrequiresanunderstandingputwaterandhydrogenionstogether.)Addingadditional

ofwater.Givenwater’ssimplicityandpervasivenessthroughlightstimulatesmorechargeseparation.

nature,wepresumethatwatermustbecompletelyunder-

stood,butinfactpreciouslittleisknownabouthowwater

moleculeslineup—untilrecently.

Studentslearnthatwaterhasthreephases:solid,liquid

andvapor.Butthereissomethingmore:inourlaboratory

attheUniversityofWashingtonwehaveuncoveredafourth

phase.1Thisphaseoccursnexttowaterloving(hydrophilic)

surfaces.Itissurprisinglyextensive,projectingoutfromsur-

facesbyuptomillionsofmolecularlayers.Anditexistsalmost

everywherethroughoutnature,includingthehumanbody.

Theexistenceofafourthphasemayseemunexpected.

However,itshouldnotbeentirelyso:acenturyago,thephysi-

calchemistSirWilliamHardyarguedfortheexistenceofa

fourthphase,and