Water is to heavy

[boltneck]

In the Gold/Feathers discussion someone pointed out that one Cubic yard of water weighs a Ton.

Maybe what we need is to find a way to make Water Light? Or perhaps come up with some synthetic Liquid that the human body can use like water but is only a fraction of the weight?

Any physicists in here? Is it possible? What kind of steps would need to be taken to research lighter water?

 

[kyleb]

This is pretty much something you'll have to take up with God.

 

[Dersaidin]

Water is too heavy for what? Space travel?

 

[Ty]

In the Gold/Feathers discussion someone pointed out that one Cubic yard of water weighs a Ton.

Maybe what we need is to find a way to make Water Light? Or perhaps come up with some synthetic Liquid that the human body can use like water but is only a fraction of the weight?

Any physicists in here? Is it possible? What kind of steps would need to be taken to research lighter water?

Too heavy? In what regard? Mass per Volume?

Good luck on compacting water! Maybe try dehydrating it?

 

[boltneck]

This has got to be more worthwhile that turning lead into gold right?

 

[FUDie]

In the Gold/Feathers discussion someone pointed out that one Cubic yard of water weighs a Ton.

Maybe what we need is to find a way to make Water Light? Or perhaps come up with some synthetic Liquid that the human body can use like water but is only a fraction of the weight?

Any physicists in here? Is it possible? What kind of steps would need to be taken to research lighter water?

What practical purpose would there be for such a thing, assuming it is even possible? If you don't want to carry a lot of extra water around, recycle what you have very efficiently.

Never mind that the water molecule is H2O, which is already a very simple compound. Also, the density of water is very important. For example, if you made it less dense, then fats and oils would be more soluble which could impact your health. Not to mention that water has some very important properties, such as being polar, and many needed nutrients are water soluble because of these properties.

In other words, you're cracked.

-FUDie

 

[FUDie]

Oh! I get it now!

boltneck was trying to make an analogy but forgot the second part! Kinda like this: Water is to heavy as something is to something.

How about: Water is to heavy as jeans are to blue.

Wow, boltneck, you're a deep one!

-FUDie

 

[digitalwanderer]

Making dehydrated water is easy and it's lighter than hell, but the problem is you need an amount of water equal to the amount you plan to rehydrate....

 

[bouy]

Isn't it easier to have the elements of water, Hydrogen and Oxygen, spearate because they can be stored in liquid form for less space and then turned into water through fuel cells to create more water in less space?

 

[Ty]

Isn't it easier to have the elements of water, Hydrogen and Oxygen, spearate because they can be stored in liquid form for less space and then turned into water through fuel cells to create more water in less space?

You could certainly compact the gases of the separate elements but you're not going to be able to compact water. Heck, when frozen, unlike most substances, water actually decreases in density.

 

[FUDie]

Isn't it easier to have the elements of water, Hydrogen and Oxygen, spearate because they can be stored in liquid form for less space and then turned into water through fuel cells to create more water in less space?

That may help conserve space (note that hydrogens boiling point is very near absolute zero however) but it's not going to save you any mass.

-FUDie

 

[arjan de lumens]

Isn't it easier to have the elements of water, Hydrogen and Oxygen, spearate because they can be stored in liquid form for less space and then turned into water through fuel cells to create more water in less space?

Liquid oxygen has a density of 1.14 g/cm3, which is a bit higher than water. So far OK. But liquid hydrogen has a density of only 0.07 g/cm3, which is only 1/14 of that of water. So if you store them separately, the required volume is about 2.5 times that of the resulting water.

 

[London Geezer]

I'm quite sure water is lighter than donuts. That, for me, is what counts.

 

[DudeMiester]

This has got to be more worthwhile that turning lead into gold right?

So the alchemist job isn't working out?

 

[The_Wolf_Who_Cried_Boy]

Once you've harvested all the deuterium and tritium goodness could light water be an actual byproduct of nuclear warhead manufacture?

 

[KimB]

Water would actually be very slightly lighter than separated hydrogen and oxygen, because bonded molecules are in a lower energy state (this is why there's an explosion when you mix hydrogen and oxygen).

As for Deuterium/Tritium, the difference is pretty small. Consider that the oxygen atom in the water molecule has an atomic weight of 16. The hydrogen atoms will usually have atomic weights of 1. Deuterium and tritium have atomic weights of 2 and 3, respectively. So, even for the very heaviest water molecules, they're only going to have atomic weights of 22 vs. 18 with light water. And even then the heavy molecules are going to be rare, making for a very, very small difference.

The only real way to get around the limitation of the weight of water is to obtain water at the destination (or at some point inbetween).

 

[AlphaWolf]

If you are talking about weight and not mass, carrying the oxygen and hydrogen around in gaseous form would save you a lot.

 

[KimB]

If you are talking about weight and not mass, carrying the oxygen and hydrogen around in gaseous form would save you a lot.

Only if you're doing so in an atmosphere, where buoyancy comes into play. But then the volume would probably be more of a hinderance than the weight.

Still, you have your terminology wrong: weight is the force of the gravity of the Earth on objects. Mass is something inherent about the object (it's the object's total energy). Water in gaseous form has every bit as much weight and mass as water in liquid form (actually, a tiny tiny bit more, as it's a higher-energy state).

 

[Basic]

...(this is why there's an explosion when you mix hydrogen and oxygen).

I'm being picky here, but it won't explode from merely mixing it (at least not in room tempered gas form). But it's very easy to ignite the mix.

Now I wonder how unstable a 2:1 mix of liquid H2 and O2 would be. (2:1 refering to number of molecules.) And how big boom you'd get from a liter of it.

 

[droopy1592]

What practical purpose would there be for such a thing, assuming it is even possible? If you don't want to carry a lot of extra water around, recycle what you have very efficiently.

Never mind that the water molecule is H2O, which is already a very simple compound. Also, the density of water is very important. For example, if you made it less dense, then fats and oils would be more soluble which could impact your health. Not to mention that water has some very important properties, such as being polar, and many needed nutrients are water soluble because of these properties.

In other words, you're cracked.

-FUDie

Water and oils don't mix because of polarity, not because of density. You can mix two nonpolar substances of completely different densities but a polar liquid and a non polar liquid will tend not to mix even if their densities are exactly the same. The reason salt (NaCl) mixes with and dissolves in water is because they are both polar compounds. Try mixing salt in any oil heavier or lighter than water. It'll stay solid.