British scientists from University College London and the University of Cambridge have discovered a new type of ice that more closely resembles liquid water than others and could change our understanding of water and its many anomalies.
This is reported by Phys.org.
This type of ice is amorphous, meaning its molecules are in an unorganized form – not neatly ordered as they are in regular crystalline ice.
Amorphous ice, although rare on Earth, is the main type of ice found in space because in the colder environment of space, ice does not have enough thermal energy to form crystals.
As part of the study, the scientists used a process called a ball mill, vigorously shaking regular ice along with steel balls in a jar chilled to -200 degrees Celsius.
They found that instead of producing small pieces of ordinary ice, the process produced a new amorphous form of ice that, unlike all other known ices, had the same density as liquid water and whose state resembled solid water. They named the new ice “medium-density amorphous ice” (MDA), the article says.
Scientists speculate that MDA (which looks like a fine white powder) may exist inside the icy moons of the outer Solar System, because tidal forces from gas giants such as Jupiter and Saturn can impart similar shear forces to regular ice as those produced by globular ice. mill.
In addition, scientists have found that when MDA is heated and recrystallized, it releases an extraordinary amount of heat. This means that such ice can cause tectonic movements and “ice pants” in the kilometer-long ice cover on the moons of giant planets such as Ganymede.
Scientists already know about 20 crystalline forms of ice, but only two main types of amorphous ice, known as high-density amorphous ice and low-density amorphous ice, have been previously identified. There is a huge difference in density between them, and the conventional wisdom is that there are no other types of amorphous ice in between.
Our study shows that the density of MDA is exactly within this density gap, and this discovery could have far-reaching implications for our understanding of liquid water and its many anomalies, the scientists note.
The researchers speculate that this newfound ice could be a true glassy state of liquid water — that is, an exact replica of liquid water in solid form, much like the glass in windows is a solid form of liquid silica.
According to another version, MDA is not glassy at all, but is in a “highly shifted crystalline state.”
We have shown that it is possible to create what looks like “stopped” water. This is an unexpected and surprising discovery, the researchers note.
Source: Phys.org
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