It' funny when you think about it (peculiar not Ha-Ha)
that water and carbon - the two most important
constituents of the human body - have a lot in common.
Carbon has two main allotropes, Diamond and Graphite.
Water also has two main allotropes, Water and Ice.
Now it's true that we normally think of water and ice
as different phases rather than allotropes.
But we must approach this subject from a poetic angle
if we wish to come up with new insights.
Ice is thieves' argot for diamonds. But water ice is
not the water equivalent of carbon "Ice". Quite the
reverse - Water ice corresponds to carbon graphite
since it has the same hexagonal structure (kind of)
and the same low density compared to its allotrope.
For comparison, the densities are
graphite: 2.3 diamond : 3.5
ice: 0.9 water : 1.0
If we ground up diamonds to make a very fine "fluid",
then graphite "icebergs" would float on this fluid
with about one third of the berg sticking up above
the surface. By contrast only one eighth of an ocean
iceberg appears above the surface.
Now anyone who has studied Professor Chaplin's web
site will realise that though water ice tries to
imitate graphite by forming hexagonal crystals it
makes a pretty poor job of it cos the hexagons are
all crinkled - a bit like those saddle shaped crisps
(chips in US-speak) sold in long cardboard tubes.
As Chaplin puts it:-
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"The basic structure consists of a
hexameric box where planes consist
of chair-form hexamers (the two
horizontal planes, opposite) or
boat-form hexamers."
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There is, of course, another allotrope of carbon
which has been discovered relatively recently,
namely, buckminster fullerene in its various shapes
and sizes. This too has its counterpart in water
clusters though here again the structure of the
waterclusters is not nearly so beautifully regular
as C60.
The coincidence of the structure of C60 and the
English football is surely a heavenly sign that
rugger and American football are the works of the
devil - although seeing that carbon is the main
fuel for hell fire, perhaps it is the other way
around. <g>. Mmm....come to think of it the Yankee
ball is the shape of Vesica Pisces, which can't
be bad. ;-)
For many years I have been pondering why the
temperature vs. density curve for water between
100 and 0 degrees Centigrade is of the same form
(root three power) as the shape of the stress
strain curve for concrete. The inverse of
temperature which I have named Compreture -
(though if anyone knows of an earlier name I
will be happy to use it) corresponds to the
loading of the compression testing machine; and
the zero degree centigrade point where the water
collapses into ice corresponds to the point
where the concrete testing machine off loads
its tensile strain energy into the concrete
causing it to break up into a lower density
conglomerate.
The isotropic pressure of the Compreture
"testing machine" can be seen to be attempting
to make the water into pretty isotropic
tetrahedral structures like diamond. But the
water doesn't want to go there. It wants to
form nice graphite like sheets and because
the Compreture test machine isn't stiff enough.
at 0 degrees the water wriggles away and does
just that.
Now it seems to me that there is an awful
lot of strain energy that is going to waste
in the transition from quasi-diamond to
quasi-graphite. How can one tame these wild
horses which are cantering about all over the
field burning up calories without doing
anything useful. There must be a way of breaking
them in and harnessing them to the plough.
One needs to find a way to accelerate the
"diamond-graphite" transition so that the
energy appears at the micro-scale of pressure
rather than at the nano-scale of heat. On needs
to speed up the transition from isotropic to
asymmetric in some way or other.
One possibility would be to project tiny
droplets of 4 degree water against a very
stiff flat surface at supersonic speed. This
might instantly flatten any isotropic structure
such as near tetrahedrons or clusters, and
release a lot of the tension-compression strain
energy. I seem to remember reading somewhere
about such an experiment but I think it was in
connection with achieving fusion.
Another possibility is to subject the 4 degree
water to asymmetric shock and awe with electric
or magnetic fields.
Obviously, there are many possible regimes that
one could investigate and no doubt it will
require the dedication of a Swan or Edison to
carry out the vast number of experiments needed
to achieve success. However, the rewards are so
enormous that once people are convinced of the
plausibility of the endeavour a successful
outcome is inevitable - assuming of course,
that the insight is correct.
There have been many reports of the addition
of water to I.C. engines improving their
performance. I would think it's quite likely
there's some truth in these reports and that
quite by accident people have stumbled upon a
way of tapping the energy of the Beta-atmosphere
/ Casimir pressure / ZPE - call it what you will.
I visualise a closed system analogous to a
refrigeration system or Stirling engine which
cycles water around the 4 degree - hexagonal
ice transition. The engine will run nice and
cool which will be good for the working parts. ;-)
I suppose the biggest obstacle to such a
development is the fact that it would be too
good to be true. A bit like cold fusion in fact,
only more so. Just think, complete independence
from the oil barons, the electric power barons,
etc. The mind boggles.
Cheers
Frank Grimer
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et dicit ei omnis homo primum
bonum vinum ponit et cum inebriati
fuerint tunc id quod deterius est
tu servasti bonum vinum usque adhuc
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