God’s Amazing Water

: Welcome friend to this Jesus, Amen Creation Corner study focused on the amazing properties of water. Before we begin, some background on the Creator Jehovah’s de facto dynamic that drives nature’s systems and their subsystems and causes them to manifest the behavior and patterns that we observe in the universe around us. Our universe consists of interrelated systems and their subsystems, and each is guided by a peculiar rule-based algorithm particular to its function in the universe. For example, if a human being were the “system–>” slide2

NOTES FOR SLIDE 2: then that person’s arm would be a subsystem, and in turn an arm is comprised of subsystems, like for example tendons, and no less tendons are comprised of subsystems, for instance a collagen fiber in a tendon would be a subsystem and so forth. Consider the earth as a system. then following the relationships just mentioned, one might consider this possible systems hierarchy–>slide3

 NOTES FOR SLIDE 3:   earth->lake->water->hydrogen->proton->quarks->gluons, and so forth. Let’s drill down a bit. All subsystems in nature continuously query their immediate environment at every instant and immediately update themselves according to Creator-imparted rules that are particular to their role in the system to which they belong. These rule-driven updates determine a given subsystem’s response to stimuli coming from its environs, i.e., from other systems and their subsystems, over against the current state of the given subsystem; that is, the rules are coded around both, and that is the key word, both the instantaneous state of a given subsystem, and the stimuli it receives from outside the system to which it belongs–>slide4. 

NOTES FOR SLIDE4  The instantaneous state of a subsystem and the stimuli it receives at any instant are the input side of the subsystem’s rules, and the subsystem’s response based on that input is the output side of the rules. It is understood that a given subsystem has the a priori mass/energy/charge/spin and whatnot currency to respond to said stimuli entirely in accordance with its inherent rules. We hold that is why our universe is of necessity constrained by conservation laws, it is precisely because the Creator’s bank does not have a revolving door–the currency that is circulating amongst the universe’s subsystems has been efficaciously fixed by the Creator. Now, a subsystem’s response may manifest in different ways, but generally four patterns emerge in nature in keeping with studies published by Dr. Stephen Wolfram–in order of increasing complexity we have: Uniformity–>slide5

 NOTES FOR SLIDE 5 Here we show a uniform pattern, uthis could be niform color, or uniform texture and so forth; other practical examples of uniformity would be hair color, or multiplication by a constant, or the dimensions of a cube. And then there is repetition–>slide6

NOTES FOR SLIDE 6 Here we see various examples  of repeated patterns in nature, a sine wave, a crystal lattice, the stripes on a zebra; another example would be heart beats. And then there is nesting–> slide7

NOTES FOR SLIDE 7  Here we have self-similar/fractal patterns where the large right triangle is enfolded in itself multiple times, the simple stacking of the bird nests conveys the idea; in this category belongs subdivision–>slide8

NOTES FOR SLIDE8 Notice that this pattern tends toward a striped pattern, like stripes on a zebra. Here we see a pattern that is a consequence of a rule that divides the blocks according to a simple rule; one sees the blocks changing color as one steps down from the first long black block at the top and they get ever smaller as the subdivision takes place on each step moving down the pattern, yet  the blocks never attain zero size. A simple rule here, yes, but a very interesting result. Indeed, Jehovah’s rules in nature do appear to be simple, but the patterns and attendant functionality that emerge may be not so simple (rom follows functionusually); it is efficacious simplicity on display in the universe, which in itself is consummate elegance–thus it is to the Creator’s glory. Oftentimes human models of God’s universe complicate Jehovah’s elegant Creation, particularly those models based on differential and integral calculus, which stumble over nonlinearities, yet nonlinearities are the norm in Jehovah’s creation. Discrete computation does much better here–this pattern is a discrete feedback pattern. One would not want to model it with differential and integral calculus, even with a  computer at one’s disposal.  And then finally we have outright complex patterns–> slide9 

NOTES FOR SLIDE 9 Here we have air turbulence in the extreme; other examples would be water turbulence, for example whirlpools, or an operating system’s causal network for instance, or the thought patterns attending human consciousnes. This video edeavors to capture the complexity of water boiling via a feedback code shown in the appendix. Nature manifests these sorts of patterns either distinctly, or in combinations of one or more of them–one need but look at the world around us to easily spot them, and nature does this via a query, update, response, query, update, response, repeat-repeat\[Ellipsis]mechanism, which is precisely a feedback mechanism; feedback operates incessantly, at all levels, from atomic scales to galactic scales, in all of nature’s subsystems, without exception, though it is not always negative feedback, oftentimes we witness instabilitiesj in nature that can usually be traced to positive feedback at work–if we are to believe that our universe is expanding, that is a classic example of positive feedback at work  at galactic scales–> slide10

(NOTES FOR SLIDE10 As concerns our subject, water is a vital and not surprisingly ubiquitous subsystem of nature, and it is of great importance to all life. In a human being, tor example, nearly 60% of  an adult’s body is comprised of water. Consider these subsystems with respect to to water: the brain and heart are comprised of approximately 75% water, and the lungs are approximately 80% water. Water consists of inherent rules that the Creator Jehovah coded into it, not least into its hydrogen bonding, so as to serve its function in the mosaic of systems and their subsystems, living and nonliving, that we call nature. We wish to selectively examine some of water’s rules in this summary-study with an eye to water’s place in the Creator’s overall design of the natural world–>slide11 sections slide

NOTES FOR SLIDE 11 We are going to limit our study to these several rule-based and feedback driven properties of water that Jehovah God coded up and made functional and placed into His mosaic of systems and their subsystems we call nature–>slide12

NOTES FOR SLIDE12 Water has an unusual temperature-density behavior between the very precise temperatures of 0\[Degree]C (32.0\[Degree]F) and 4\[Degree]C (39.2\[Degree]F); this is uncanny and bespeaks purpose and design in the extreme . The surface layers of a large body of water will cool and sink when exposed to a frigid ambient, they sink with water’s maximal density of 999.96 kg/m^3 precisely at a temperature of 4\[Degree]C/39.2\[Degree]F. At this maximum density of 999.96 kg/m^3, we have an unusual, tightly packed, shrunken if you will, liquid phase, and for temperatures on either side of 4\[Degree]C, in one direction cooling, in the other direction warming, water suddenly becomes less dense irrespective of the trending of the temperature away from the 4\[Degree]C tipping point temperature, which is quite uncanny. A less dense liquid phase bespeaks a less tightly packed molecular arrangement with attendant expansion, as shown by the curve. Then, amazingly, the lowest density is attained upon transition to the solid phase at 0\[Degree]C. The orientation of water’s hydrogen bonds, to be discussed later, causes the molecules to push farther apart in the solid phase, thus we have maximal expansion of the molecules here, and lower attendant density, and hence the solid phase/ice floats on the slightly warmer and denser liquid phase just below. And of course denser water sinks, so the temperatures of the lower portions of a body of water further down under the ice will equilibrate at the slightly warmer 4\[Degree]C temperature. So yes, it is true that the water is slightly warmer beneath the ice, but not enough for a human being to maintain their critical body temperature very long. So in summary, the freeze cycle has the cooler surface layer of water sinking and the slighly warmer water displaced by the sinking water then rushes in to become the new surface layer, and  as the ambient continues to cool toward the freezing point and beyond, the lower parts of the body of water equilibrate at 4\[Degree]C while the surface layers begin to freeze, and float, on the silightly warmer, and denser, 4\[Degree]C water below–>slide13.

NOTES FOR SLIDE13  Upon the formation of ice, the crucial displacement of an immediately lower layer of water continues, but in an altogether different fashion, following Archimedes’ principle, which says that the volume of displaced fluid is equivalent to the volume of the object below the surface, and in this context the volume of displaced water is equivalent to the volume of the ice below the surface. In this way layer upon layer of ice forms at the surface in cyclic fashion. It is indeed a negative feedback loop with a temperature moderator. The feedback stops when the displacement of surface water stops, which is temperature dependent. An important takeaway is that freezing occurs first at the surface, while the lower waters remain at a relatively constant temperature of 4\[Degree]C/39.2\[Degree]F, because once established, the ice (and snow buildup) acts as a thermal insulator preventing the 4\[Degree]C water below the ice from freezing and thus the ice acting as an insulator damps the ice growth. This is classic rule-guided negative feedback behavior that shows up all over the universe, not just in regard to water.

Please consider the intentionality behind this design. If water behaved more “normally,” i.e., by decreasing its density (expanding) with increased temperature and increasing its density (shrinking) with decreased temperature, and if it had a solid phase denser than its liquid phase, a large body of water exposed to a frigid ambient for an extended period would freeze solid because there would be no sink/rise cyclic action at the surface as described with no attendant insulating ice layer. Clearly, the properties of water were tuned just right for marine life to thrive. So let us recall our blessed Lord’s intentions: Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.” (Genesis 1:20). It goes without saying that if all the waters on the earth froze solid, it would be catastrophic for life in general, not just marine life. Water’s peculiar behavior around the 4\[Degree]C temperature is a testament to the genius of our Creator God and in no small way manifests an aspect of His glory praised be His Name). Now we wish to discuss the high specific heat capacity of water–>slide14.

NOTES FOR SLIDE14 We are going to introduce some technical terms and concepts now but will try to explain each of them in an easy to understand manner so that everyone can appreciate the beauty and elegance of Jehovah’s work as touching water. A drop of water contains billions of water molecules that are constantly on the move and whose formula is H2O–two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom comprise a water molecule. In the illustration hydrogen is white and oxygen is red. Water molecules make polar covalent bonds as explained in a moment, and the molecule itself is bent in a V shape with the oxygen atom at the tip of the V and the two hydrogen atoms on the other end as shown. The angle the V makes is not accidentally 104.5\[Degree]. Okay, “covalent” means that the oxygen and hydrogen atoms share their valence electrons; that is the first concept to grasp before we proceed, water’s atoms share their valence electrons, where valence electrons are those electrons that are energetically the farthest from the nucleus, and are thus more loosely held by the nucleus; the simple insight to be noted is that valence electrons are the ones that are most easily lost, gained, or shared by an atom. With that in mind, the matter comes down, as always, to a question of stability, and an atom is stablest when its valence shell is chock full of electrons. Let us repeat that:  an atom is stablest when its valence shell is full of electrons. That is the Creator’s chemiical stability rule that short collars all matter, and chemical reactions proceed in such a way as to achieve stability. In general, nature tends toward stability, whether chemically as just described, or otherwise. A related concept to grasp is that negative feedback drives stability in systems, be it atoms, molecules, matter, planets, galaxies, or the universe per se. So in satisfaction of the Creator’s stability rule as concerns water, It turns out that a total of eight electrons end up surrounding the oxygen atom and a pair of electrons end up surrounding each hydrogen atom, thus filling the valence shell for both oxygen and hydrogen. But, ingeniously, here is the rub, the sharing of the negatively charged electrons is not equal, and this is what makes the water molecule a polar molecule, as explained next. Water molecules are polar because oxygen is an “electron lover,” more so than hydrogen; technically, oxygen is more electronegative than hydrogen. And so as the water molecule forms, the oxygen atom pulls harder on the shared electrons than the hydrogen atoms do, and in this way the oxygen side/pole of the water molecule becomes more negative relative to the hydrogen side/pole, and this forms an electrically polar bond. This configuration then attracts the oppositely charged ends of other water molecules and forms an electrically tight network of weak individual connections which nevertheless in the aggregate comprised of billions of connectons makes for a tight electrical network of connections throughout the liquid water, and these connections are called hydrogen bonds, an important design concept that we shall refer to again and again. Hydrogen bonds are a key design aspect of water, and they are manipulated by rules under largely negative feedback to effect the Creator’s several purposes for water. Let’s consider a few of these rules. Because of its low molecular weight of about 18 g/mol (18 g/mol is like saying 12 eggs/dozen), one would expect water to be a gas at room temperature, but the molecules are so tightly connected due to the prodigious number of hydrogen bonds that water remains a liquid at room temperature, i.e., there is not enough heat energy at room temperature to displace the molecules far enough apart, and long enough, to overcome the electrical effects holding the molecules together, though a scarce few do escape the liquid because they get an added “kick” from the kinetic energy of motion of other water molecules (water molecules are constantly on the move as said above). So water remains a liquid at room temperature is the point everybody knows from experience, and this is obviously an extremely important property of water that has huge implications for all life, not least for human beings seeing that 60% of the human body is comprised of liquid water. Consider the genious of the our Creator in the following. As more heat energy is added to water its temperature increases because some of the hydrogen bonds are broken alllowing the molecules to move about freely with an attendant kinetic energy proportional to the absorbed heat energy. Upon cooling the molecules slow down and the average distance between molecules decreases and the average time they spend in one another’s proximity increases and this allows the hydrogen bonds to reform and the energy that was previously absorbed and which caused a given bond to break setting a given molecule into motion is released to the environment, in keeping with the Creator’s conservation of energy rule. Let’s go over that again. What is important to note is that a water molecule absorbs heat and bonds break and consequently it moves about with a certain energy on the one hand, and the molecule releases/gives back heat when bonds reform upon cooling on the other hand, and that is what gives water its high specific heat capacity, itself an amazing temperature regulating mechanism. Specific heat capacity is the amount of heat energy that 1 gram of a substance must absorb or lose to change its temperature by 1\[Degree]C. For water, this value is 1 “small,” i.e., nonfood, calorie, or 4.184 joules of energy, where 4.184 joules of energy is very roughly equivalent to the energy necessary to lift a 1 pound/ .43 kilogram object to a vertical height of about 3 feet/ 1 meter. Not surprisingly, the Creator designed water to have the highest specific heat of any liquid, and what this means practically is that it takes water a very long time to heat or cool–heating and cooling of water, as measured by its temperature, does not happen suddenly, and this has significant implications for humans, because being comprised largely of water, we are able to maintain a constant internal body temperature over against sudden temperature swings in the ambient, as for example leaving the confines of a warm house and going outside into the frigid cold. And no less marine animals are able to survive sudden, wide ambient temperature changes because the water around them does not fluctuate in lockstep with  ambient swings in temperature. Another consequence of water’s tight hydrogen bonding is that evaporation, the process wherein water molecules escape the surface of the liquid, significantly cools the adjacent object that sources this heat, and sweat for example, which is about 90% water, upon evaporation cools the body as the body gives up the heat of vaporization necessary for the evaporation of water, and this is a remarkably efficient cooling mechanism designed to work in conjuction with the skin which covers the vast surface area of the human body. A little more detail here. Consider a sweat droplet at some elevated body temperature which temperature is a reflection of the average kinetic energy of the molecules in the sweat droplet; these high-speed molecules in the droplet are the ones that can escape from the liquid into the surrounding air, and if there is any kind of a breeze blowing it will blow these molecules away as soon as they escape, and therefore the chance of their reentering the drop of sweat is of course very small, so, since the droplet is losing its high-speed molecules, the average kinetic energy of the remaining molecules in the droplet must decrease, and this means that the temperature of the droplet must also decrease, and since the droplet is now cooler than its surroundings, including the skin on which it rests, it draws heat from the body, which warms the droplet back up again, increasing the speed of its molecules, which allows the evaporation process to continue at more or less the same rate, and so sweat droplets are an effective means of drawing heat from the body and releasing it into the surrounding air in the form of high-speed molecules; the root-mean-square (rms) speed of water molecules at 30\[Degree]C/86F and 100\[Degree]C/212F is about the same, it follows therefore, if water molecules at 100\[Degree]C have enough energy to escape into the gas phase upon boiling, many molecules at 30\[Degree]C, which is nearer average body temperature, will be able to escape as well. Once again, at the heart of the process lies the hydrogen bonding, but not least a negative feedback mechanism that drives the cooling action toward equilibrium, in this case homeostasis of body temperature. Feedback, as always, is what drives and sustains the action, the rules (e.g., hydrogen bonding, heat of vaporization, etc.) guide the action. And now another property of water related to the hydrogen bonds and the attendant polarity of the water molecule: these factors make water a highly efficient solvent for other polar and/or ionic comounds. In fact, water is dubbed “the universal solvent. Consider ordinary table salt (sodium choride, nacl) as a simple example. Salt is an ionic compound, where the sodium ion has a positive charge and the chloride ion has a negative charge. When added to water, salt dissociates (i.e., onizes) into sodium and chloride ions as the negative end of the water molecules, i.e., the oxygen atoms at the tip of the V, surrounds the positively harged sodium ions; likewise, the positive end of the water molecule, the hydrogen atoms, surrounds the negatively charged chloride ions, and in this way the salt is dissociated by the polar water molecule and comprises the solute which is uniformly distributed within the solvent (the water), and as a solution, it serves its own role in our Creator’s handiwork. For example, sodium is an eloctrolyte that regulates the amount of water contained in the human body, and no less it has a role in the function of nerve impulses and muscle contractions. And the chloride is also an elelctrolyte that keeps the amount of fluid inside and outside of cells in balance and aids in maintaining proper blood volume and blood pressure and the proper pH of body fluids. Most chemical reactions in nature are carried out in solutions and in that context water is the most common solvent used by living things. And yet another example. Because the water molecule is a polar molecule, cohesive forces attract the oppositely charged ends of water molecules toward each other, and this produces the phenomenon of surface tension which gives water droplets their spherical shape which become tear-drop shaped under the unfluence of gravity for instance, and surface tension also allows many insects to walk on the surface of water for example. (One must digress here and ask, is it really that hard to believe that the Creator of the polar water molecule and its conhesive forces walked on water–He being no insect could certainly do it.) And again, because the water molecule is a polar molecule, it attracts the oppositely charged ends of other molecules besides itself giving rise to adhesive forces that allow mineral rich water to climb from the roots of plants to their lieaves (technically, this is capillary action); and it is no small thing that the mineral rich water is itself a function of the dissociating solvent power of water as it dissociates the minerals in the ground that become dissolved in the water that climbs the stem of the plant to its leaves via  adhesive forces. We must keep in mind that plants with altogether withered or missing leaves cannot bear fruit.

Clearly, the Creator Jehovah’s “polarity rule,” as evidenced by the hydrogen bonds that comprise water is not a chance sort of thing and it is certainly not an accident nor is it somehow an ad hoc afterthought because there is laser-like intentionality serving a far-reaching purpose behind it–>slide15.

NOTES FOR SLIDE15  Water’s amazing molecule can act as both an acid (pH 0-6.9) and a base (pH 7.1-14) in solution (technically, water is an amphoteric compound). But more, the negative feedback the Creator Jehovah coded into water drives ionization of water itself, thus it can act as both an acid and a base to itself as well. Oftentimes textbooks refer to this as autoionization, but that is a misnomer, ionization is the result of negative feedback operating under specific, purposed rules. Here one water molecule donates a hydrogen atom acting as the acid) to another water molecule (acting as the base). In this way then, under feedback, water dissociates a small percentage of its water molecules into equal numbers of hydrogen  ions/ (H+) protons and hydroxide ions (OH\[Dash]), as expressed by the formula H2O–>H^+ + OH-. Because of their hydrogen bonds with other water molecules, the  hydroxide (OH\[Dash]) ions remain in solution, while  the  (H+) protons are attracted to un-ionized water molecules and form hydronium (H30+) ions, as expressed by the formula 2 H2O -> H3O^++OH- which simply says that  a couple of water molecules hook up and produce a bunch of hydronium and a bunch of hydroxide. The upshot, the takeaway, is that (pure) water is a solution that is both acidic owing to the hydronium ions (H3O+) in it and basic owing to the hydroxide ions (OH-) in it. So, when mixed with an acid, water readily accepts  (H+) ions and acts as a base owing to hydroxide (OH-) reactions, and when mixed with a base, it donates (H+ ) ions and acts like an acid owing to the hydronium  (H3O+) ions. Now, practically, since acids and bases release or take up excess hydrogens (which are protons essentially), respectively, from their environs, and since losing or gaining protons alters the structure of molecules, proteins, the workhorses of cells, which require a specific structure to function aright as discussed later, must be protected from acids and bases, and water does this by acting as both an acid and a base as just discussed. This is another classic example of negative feedback coninuosly driving a system toward equilibium/stability.

Okay a word about buffers (arrows diagram). Human blood is comprised of a liquid (55%) and solids (45%), where the liquid part, called plasma, consists of water, salts, and protein; the solid part consists of red blood cells, which are made in the bone marrow and contain a protein called hemoglobin, which carries oxygen from the lungs to all parts of the body, and white blood cells, which are part of the immune system and  help the body fight infection and disease, and platelets, which are cell fragments that form clots and help stop bleeding. And human blood contains a buffer of carbonic acid (H2CO3), the bicarbonate anion (HCO3-), and carbon dioxide (CO2)–arrows diagram. This buffer maintains blood pH between 7.35 and 7.45, where a value higher than 7.8 or lower than 6.8 can lead to death (most biological reactions require very specific pH ranges to function aright). In this buffer, the reactants, the H+, which is essentially hydronium (H3O+) in solution, emanating from some acidic substance that enetered the bloodstream, say vinegar, or orange juice, etc., and the bicarbonate, which is produced in the red blood cells, are in equilibrium with the product, which is carbonic acid (equilibrium means no net change in the amounts of the reactants and products). Simply put, the bicarbonate neutralizes the hydronium ions forming carbonic acid (and ultimately water and carbon dioxide in the second equilibrium), thus hydronium ions are removed is the point, preventing the pH of blood from becoming acidic (pH is raised in this case). So, in one direction (blue arrows), pH in the blood is raised by producing more water and carbon dioxide; the reverse direction (purple arrows) lowers pH as more bicarbonate and hydronium is produce. This is a remarkable, highly efficient two-way system and another classic example of negative feedback at work. That such a system as this came together by chance is ludicrous. –> slide16.

SLIDE16 NOTES: Water fills cells at the molecular level to help them maintain their shape, where by the term “shape” we mean “manifest pattern” in keeping with the patterns outlined above. Typically, cells are round (2D, round is a uniform shape), elongated (2D, elongated is a uniform shape), or spherical (3D, spherical is  a uniform shape). To effect this “shape maintenance,” the water filling the cell creates pressure, which by definition is a given force per unit area, that opposes external forces impressing upon the cell. the backdrop to be tucked away is that shape is crucial for biochemical processes to unfold aright. And not least shape facilitates the formation of membranes surrounding cells, where every living cell is surrounded by a membrane. These membranes consist of a bilayer of molecules called the phospholipid bilayer as shown, that has electrically polar “heads,” and nonpolar “tails,” where the polar heads interact with the electrically polar hydrogen bonding of the water surrounding the cell and inside the cell, whilst the nonpolar tails attempt to avoid the water and rather interact with each other. Hence, the heads end up oriented pointing toward the surrounding water, and the tails point away from any water.This bilayer that is thus formed and that surrounds cells selectively allows salts and nutrients to enter and exit the cell by way of protein molecules embedded in it as shown. Cholesterol is also a phospholipid; it fits in between the phospholipids as shown and influences membrane permeability and fluidity.There are two ways cells can get the cholesterol needed for the membranes, either by using food sources containing low-density lipoproteins, or LDL, which itself transports fatty acids and their derivatives all alike insoluble in water from the liver to body cells, including those in arteries where it can contribute to life-threatening plaque buildup, or by synthesizing it within the cell. Perhaps the key takeaway for our purposes is that water helps cell membranes maintain structure; without proper membrane structure, cells would be unable to keep important molecules inside the cell and harmful ones outside.

And water affects DNA and proteins, the latter being a long chain of building block amino acids that must fold into a certain specific shape to function aright, and it is water that drives that folding as different types of amino acids once again either seek or avoid interacting with it (there are some 500 amino acids in nature, but only 20 comprise the proteins found in the human body, indeed, in all living bodies). Proteins, the workhorses of cells, provide structure, they receive signals, i.e., feedback updates, and catalyze chemical reactions in the cell, besides many other functions. Without proper shape, proteins would not be able to perform these functions and a cell, as also the human host, could not survive. And no less DNA needs to be in a certain shape for its instructions, i.e., its feedback rules, to be decoded aright. Proteins that read or copy DNA can only bind DNA that has a particular shape, and it is water, its molecules, that surround DNA to support its double-helix shape as shown; without this shape, cells would not be able to follow the rules decoded by DNA and pass them on to new cells, thus making human growth, reproduction, and indeed survival impossible. Let us now turn to the Word of God and appreciate His refrences to the water He created for us–>slide17.