Posted on 12/07/2004 2:12:48 PM PST by rotstan
Physicists in Japan have discovered that the melting point of water increases slightly in a strong magnetic field. Hideaki Inaba and colleagues at Chiba University found that it increases by 5.6 millikelvin for ordinary water in a field of 6 Tesla, and by 21.8 millikelvin for heavy water (J. Appl. Phys. 96 6127).
Water has many unusual properties: it has relatively high melting and boiling points for a small molecule, and the liquid state can also be denser than the solid state. These properties are thought to arise from the 3D network of hydrogen bonds in the molecule.
Recently, it was discovered that the near infrared spectrum and refractive index of water can be affected by a strong magnetic field. Some researchers have suggested that the magnetic field somehow strengthens hydrogen bonds, but the exact mechanism behind these results remains a mystery.
Inaba and co-workers measured the melting temperatures of ordinary water and heavy water - in which the hydrogen atoms are replaced by deuterium - with a highly sensitive differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The changes in the melting points observed with the DSC were proportional to the square of the magnetic field, and also about three orders of magnitude larger than those calculated using the so-called magneto-Clapeyron equation.
"Since water is diamagnetic, it should not be affected by a magnetic field," Inaba told PhysicsWeb. "We believe that the thermal motion of the partially charged atoms in the water gives rise to a Lorentz force when a magnetic field is applied. By suppressing the thermal motion, the Lorentz force makes the hydrogen bonds stronger, which could account for the increase in the melting points."
The Chiba team now plans to investigate the effect of magnetic fields on phase transitions in other diamagnetic materials including gallium, indium, mercury and benzene.
I think it just falls under "nice to know."
ping
Could this be a byproduct of the magnetic field interacting with the thermometer? 0.0056 Kelvin and 0.0218 Kelvin are pretty small increments.
Everybody knows that, right?
Or the magnetic field energizes the trace metals in the water? This is kind of interesting, and goes back to something I saw last year in National Geographic. They studied how giant sea turtles navigated over thousands of miles, and determined they use the Earth's magneic field. This could lead to advances in navigation way beyond GPS.
Pidgeons too. Their brains align to Earth's magnetic field and navigate accordingly.
The New Mystery of Water
By Michael Schirber
LiveScience Staff Writer
posted: 01 December, 2004
7:00 a.m. ET
http://www.livescience.com/forcesofnature/041201_water_bonds.html
Water's unique properties:
• The solid form floats on the liquid form. This property also explains why water pipes will burst when they freeze – something opposite of nearly every other simple substance. Mercury thermometers, for instance, do not explode when the temperature drops below the freezing point of mercury.
• The temperatures at which water boils and freezes are both higher than other molecules of similar size.
• Water has a large heat capacity; it can take in a lot of heat without its temperature increasing very much. This makes it an especially good coolant for a car radiator, and it's the main reason temperatures are moderate for coastal communities – as the ocean is slow to cool down or warm up.
• The high surface tension of water – its tendency to fight being pulled apart – explains why it forms droplets and why it climbs up the sides of a straw. It may also play a part in how the water strider walks on water.
Earth's Inconstant Magnetic Field
The pole kept going during the 20th century, north at an average speed of 10 km per year, lately accelerating "to 40 km per year," says Newitt. At this rate it will exit North America and reach Siberia in a few decades.
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/29dec_magneticfield.html
Pingin' you to a Dec 2004 topic.
Thanks for the ping.
Interesting.
Earth's Magnetic Field Weakens 10 Percent (and some other stuff)
Yahoo News | 12/12/03 | Andrew Bridges - AP
Posted on 12/12/2003 6:26:01 PM PST by NormsRevenge
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1039487/posts
Earth's magnetic poles on verge of flipping
World Net Daily | December 12, 2003
Posted on 12/13/2003 8:38:30 PM PST by gitmo
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1039977/posts
Pole reversal: Feared "flip" of Earth's magnetic field takes 7,000 years [DOOM!]
Agence France-Presse | April 7, 2004 | AFP
Posted on 04/07/2004 9:13:52 PM PDT by AntiGuv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1113501/posts
NYT: COLLAPSE OF THE EARTH'S MAGNETIC FIELD ACCELERATES (Via Drudge)
Drudge Report | 7/12/04 | Drudge
Posted on 07/12/2004 4:05:31 PM PDT by mkj6080
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1170023/posts
Collapse of Magnetic Field Accelerates
New York Times... | 7/12/04
Posted on 07/12/2004 7:44:32 PM PDT by Cheetah1
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1170131/posts
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