Water is the liquid state of the compound H20. The French chemist Joseph Louis and the German naturalist Alexander van Humboldt derived this chemical formula in 1804. Water is the most abundant and important liquid on our planet, covering approximately 70% of the globe. It is the only substance that occurs at ordinary temperatures in the 3 various states of matter.

 Properties

   A natural, pure form of water is odourless and tasteless and seemingly colourless although there is a bluish nature to it. At standard atmospheric pressure the freezing point of war (transition between water to ice) is 0 degrees Celsius with the boiling point (transition from liquid to steam) being 100 degrees Celsius. The unique part about this process is that the solid ice is actually less dense than the liquid form and thus floats on it! Water has density of 0.95865 g/cm3 at 100 degrees Celsius.

  Furthermore, water is one of the most highly viable ionising agents present. It is also known as the universal solvent because of the very high number of substances that are likely to dissolve in the liquid water. This enables water to act as a crucial catalyst for various important chemical and biological processes and reactions. Water has a neutral pH of about 7 making it neither acidic nor basic in nature. It is also highly heat specific making it a very useful solvent for industrial purposes.

Water is a major factor of all living beings. Approximately 49% to 92% of all living organisms consist of water. The very essence of life: protoplasm consists of a solution of water as a solvent with carbohydrates, proteins and mineral salts as solutes. The continual process of hydrolysis (metabolic breakdown of essential nutrients absorbed) is carried out with water playing a key role. Even in the natural world, water is of utmost importance as a solvent, continually ensuring the transportation, metabolism and catabolism of various substances essential to life.