Water

28 Mar, 2013 540 Chemistry

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss one of the simplest and most remarkable of all molecules: water. Water is among the most abundant substances on Earth, covering more than two-thirds of the planet. Consisting of just three atoms, the water molecule is superficially simple in its structure but extraordinary in its properties. It is a rare example of a substance that can be found on Earth in gaseous, liquid and solid forms, and thanks to its unique chemical behaviour is the basis of all known life. Scientists are still discovering new things about it, such as the fact that there are at least fifteen different forms of ice.

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Guests

  • Hasok Chang 3 episodes
    Hans Rausing Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge
  • Andrea Sella 4 episodes
    Professor of Chemistry at University College London
  • Patricia Hunt No other episodes
    Senior Lecturer in Chemistry at Imperial College London.

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Programme ID: b01rgm9g

Episode page: bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rgm9g

Auto-category: 546 (Inorganic chemistry)

Hello (First sentence from this episode) Hello. Water is one of the commonest substances on Earth.