Home Forums Chat Forum How many molecules of water are there in the ocean..?

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  • How many molecules of water are there in the ocean..?
  • mikey74
    Free Member

    Really? I was under the impression that sand became progressively finer until it became silt, then eventually clay. Whereas the other end of the spectrum it becomes larger and turns into grit, then maybe gravel.

    You are correct.

    crazy-legs
    Full Member

    Th properties of water are discerned by the interaction between the composite molecules of H20. One single molecule of H20 does not exhibit the same properties as water.

    That’s not really an argument TBH – one molecule of water is still a water molecule and anyway, not ALL it’s properties are defined by molecular interactions. After all ice/steam is still H2O but neither exhibits the same properties as liquid water so your original argument falls down slightly.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Th properties of water are discerned by the interaction between the composite molecules of H20. One single molecule of H20 does not exhibit the same properties as water.

    Sure. Doesn’t mean it’s not still water though. Especially as only some of the properties of water are macroscopic.

    I was under the impression that sand became progressively finer until it became silt, then eventually clay. Whereas the other end of the spectrum it becomes larger and turns into grit, then maybe gravel.

    This is true, and if I’d been thinking a bit more carefully I’d have remembered.

    Therefore if you only have 1 silicon atom, and 2 oxygen atoms to make one SiO2 molecule you can’t make quartz, and therefore you can’t make sand

    Yes, one molecule of SiO2 is not sand as described above, but one molecule of water is still water. Sand is the name for a particular arrangement of SiO2 molecules.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    would it be easier to swim if all water was carbonated?

    There is a spring somewhere in South America or Indonesia which spews out carbonated water.

    Junkyard
    Free Member

    we have several imprecise numbers:

    How many shoes do I have if I have a few pairs ?
    Always confused me that one

    Re water it is a lot anything else is just a guess- some of which arebetter guesses than others

    mudshark
    Free Member

    would it be easier to swim if all water was carbonated?

    Anyone tried putting a gold fish into carbonated water? I’m curious.

    deadlydarcy
    Free Member

    we have several imprecise numbers:

    Agreed. Can we be a bit more pacific please?

    ourkidsam
    Free Member

    Anyone tried putting a gold fish into carbonated water? I’m curious.

    What about lemonade?

    DaveRambo
    Full Member

    Ooo I’ve got to add to this

    Water is the common name for the chemical with the composition H2O in the same way that methane is the common name for CH4 etc
    The properties of ‘water’ are exactly those exhibited by the molecule H20 – by definition.

    and it’s not possible to give a definitive answer to “How many molecules of water are there in the Ocean” – It will be constantly changing to the point where it’s not possible to answer. The best you can do is give a rough estimate and even that will be extremely difficult to validate.

    This leads to the only possible answer being as Sawyer eloquently put :

    Lots.

    Peyote
    Free Member

    There is a spring somewhere in South America or Indonesia which spews out carbonated water.

    Cool, a natural soda stream!

    It was one of the theories as to why ships kept disappearing in the Bermuda Triangle too. Not sure if it was carbon dioxide, but it worked on the principle (or is -al?, always get those two mixed up) that gas bubbles lower the density of water and allow stuff to sink.

    Not sure how it caused planes to dissappear either. Probably why I never found out if had any evidence to back it up.

    crazy-legs
    Full Member

    What about lemonade?

    Boring. Putting just the right amount of gin in your goldfish bowl makes your fishes eyes bulge out and causes it to swim in an amusing manner.

    gonefishin
    Free Member

    It was one of the theories as to why ships kept disappearing in the Bermuda Triangle too. Not sure if it was carbon dioxide, but it worked on the principle (or is -al?, always get those two mixed up) that gas bubbles lower the density of water and allow stuff to sink.

    That gas was methane released by melting methane hydrates, which is sort of a form of ice. That being said, there is no such thing as the bermuda triangle in that context as there are no more shipping accidents there than anywhere else in the world.

    dazzlingboy
    Full Member

    I need a pee reading this thread.

    mudshark
    Free Member

    Putting just the right amount of gin in your goldfish bowl makes your fishes eyes bulge out…

    Adding ice cubes to see how much cold the fish can cope with; leads to the saying – ‘The ice cube that stopped the gold fish swimming’.

    Peyote
    Free Member

    there is no such thing as the bermuda triangle in that context as there are no more shipping accidents there than anywhere else in the world.

    Another of my childhood myths is destroyed, I spent hours poring over books/magazines/articles about stories of Kraken, aliens, firestorms, secret military experiments and the ilk swallowing liners and jumbojets.

    Oh well. Everything goes the way of Santa in the end.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    The best you can do is give a rough estimate

    Oh, really?

    Bermuda triangle = people trying to sell books, articles and crap documentaries desperately trying to prove that because a handful of incidents happend near to each other that means that it’s aliens or some rubbish.

    simonfbarnes
    Free Member

    underwater gas pipelines have to be carefully covered and monitored as a leak can cause passing shipping to sink…

    no_eyed_deer
    Free Member

    as a leak can cause passing shipping to sink…

    [pedant] That should be ‘could cause passing shipping to sink’, shouldn’t it sfb? I’m not sure that it has ever actually happened? [/pedant] 😉

    Interesting bit of info though

    cheese@4p
    Full Member

    Then the ship might sink onto the pipeline, smashing it up and causing a huge gas leak which might have devastating effects on the climate, and that….

    ahwiles
    Free Member

    Peyote – Member

    “There is a spring somewhere in South America or Indonesia which spews out carbonated water”

    Cool, a natural soda stream!

    there’s one of those near bubion in spain – i drank from it when i went riding with switchbacks.

    it tastes beautiful.

    other sierra nevada riding holiday companies are available…

    water is not a molecule

    He’s right you know.
    It’s an element, like earth, air or fire.

    gonefishin
    Free Member

    underwater gas pipelines have to be carefully covered and monitored as a leak can cause passing shipping to sink…

    No they don’t. Well they are generally buried but not for that reason. Besides they are normally only buried a few hundred millimetres which wouldn’t be enough to impede the escaping gas were the pipeline to suffer a catastrophic failure.

    simonfbarnes
    Free Member

    it’s not to impede the gas but to cushion from impacts by trawlers and anything else that might otherwise damage the pipe!

    boxelder
    Full Member

    Incorrect: One grain of sand is silica, sand is the collective term for the granular material it is a constituent of.

    Sand is a measure of texture – it doesn’t have to be silica. Most of it is silica, as that is a common, hard wearing mineral.

    Water molecules?? Life’s too short…….

    gonefishin
    Free Member

    it’s not to impede the gas but to cushion from impacts by trawlers and anything else that might otherwise damage the pipe!

    Well yes but that’s totally different to

    …a leak can cause passing shipping to sink…

    isn’t it.

    zokes
    Free Member

    He’s right you know.
    It’s an element, like earth, air or fire.

    STW in the 1700s

    dandelionandmurdoch
    Free Member

    I remember learning form one of Jim Al-Khalili’s telly programmes that:

    “There are more molecules of water in a single glass of water than there are glasses of water in all the oceans of the world.”

    Completely irrelephant to this thread, but that dude’s such a great presenter of some fine BBC programming that I had to mention it.

    As you were.

    mikey74
    Free Member

    Sand is a measure of texture – it doesn’t have to be silica. Most of it is silica, as that is a common, hard wearing mineral.

    I think I did say as much in a following post.

    That’s not really an argument TBH – one molecule of water is still a water molecule and anyway, not ALL it’s properties are defined by molecular interactions. After all ice/steam is still H2O but neither exhibits the same properties as liquid water so your original argument falls down slightly.

    But ice and steam only have the properties they have because of the bonds between the molecules, which are relatively weak. In fact the reason why water can be so easily transformed into it’s different states is because of the weak bonds between the molecules.

    gonefishin
    Free Member

    In fact the reason why water can be so easily transformed into it’s different states is because of the weak bonds between the molecules.

    Actually it’s quite difficult for water to transform between the liquid and gas phases and takes a huge amount of energy to boil (2500 kJ/kg at 0C and 2257kJ/kg at 100C). In fact were it not for the hydrogen bond (I’m guessing that that’s what you you are refereing to) then the boiling point of water would be much lower than it is.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Mm yes and liquid water has an extremly high heat capacity compared to most other things which is why it makes such an excellent coolant.

    We take it for granted but it’s actually a very strange substance, water.

    Another factoid – there are more water molecules in a glass of water than there are stars in the universe.

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