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Past and present theories regarding placement of molecules in water
This series of images depicts past and present theories regarding placement of molecules in water. Each individual water molecule is linked to four of its neighbors in many current models of the liquid (left). However, new results suggest most water molecules are linked strongly to only two others. This implies that liquid water molecules may be arranged in rings (middle) or chains (right) that are clustered together by additional, weaker hydrogen bonds. The oxygen atoms are shown in red and the hydrogen atoms in gray in the water (H2O) molecules that are pictured.
This work was supported by National Science Foundation grant CHE 00-89215.
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Credit: Anders Nilsson and Hirohito Ogasawara, Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory
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