somewhere near the temporal coordinates of 7/1/02 8:20 PM, the entity known
as Mark Ross transmitted the following from markr13_at_comcast.net:
> Oxygen is quite polar (and is in the triplet ground state, and therefore
> a free radical).
O2 is not polar, i.e., there is no charge separation in the O2 molecule (no
+ end and no - end). Further, there is essentially NO free radical oxygen
in the troposphere (except for some transients induced by photochemistry).
> To suggest that water and air do not interact is
> inaccurate.
I never said they don't interact. Just that they don't interact via the
same chemical forces that occur when a solvent (like water) dissolves
something. A solvent "latches on" to a molecule of the solute. That is NOT
happening when water evaporates into the air. If the O2 & N2 were replaced
with helium or argon, water would still evaporate and there would still be
humidity.
> If water and air were not miscible, they would form separate
> layers, just as water and an organic solvent do.
Actually, if you took a tall column of air and maintained it at the same
temperature and pressure throughout, the water vapor (which is just a bit
more than half the molecular weight of N2 & O2) WOULD rise to the top.
> Don't get caught in the
> trap of looking at things only one way. Laws of thermodynamics, kinetics
> and interactions are all intertwined. Nature really doesn't care what
> the materials are, their interactions and states are all governed by the
> same principles.
Although thermodynamics and kinetic theory are often taught as part of
chemistry courses, they are different than chemistry. Chemistry involves
attractive forces between molecules/elements. Thermodynamics/kinetics is
more or less the application of Newtonian mechanics to an ensemble of
objects.
- Eric.
--Eric Strobel (fyzycyst_at_NOSPAM^mailaps.org)
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