Water: The Strangest Common Molecule

Water boils far higher than similar sized molecules, floats when frozen, and dissolves a remarkable range of substances, all because of hydrogen bonds between its bent molecules. Ice is less dense than liquid water, a rare anomaly that lets icebergs float and lakes freeze from the top. Water covers 71 percent of the planet and fills every cell. Life writes its chemistry in water, and the quirks of the molecule make that possible..

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