Wonder Of Water, The (1958)

[Music] [Music] e may we please have a drink of water on ke you certainly may that's one thing I have plenty of help yourself I'm right plenty for everybody but what's this the seventh inning stretch no we are just practicing what this water should taste good boy doesn't like water when you're thirsty oh you're so right Mike you know man can add all sorts of things things to water to make it taste differently and have pretty colors but when you're really thirsty boy you'll choose just plain old water hey by the way do you fellas know what water's made of what do you mean made of you mean water's made out of something else it is that what do you think water is I always thought water was just water yeah just playing H2O ah there you are Ted okay now what do you mean by just H2O I don't know I guess it's start of a nickname for water isn't it I guess H2O has become sort of a slang expression meaning water but actually H2O is the chemical formula for water but why do we use the letters H and O with a little two in the middle tell us Uncle Bob all right I will R into my lab for a few seconds and we'll do some detective work and solve the mystery of why we call this H2O I'm going to need a fresh supply of exhibit a go ahead in all right now you fell just gather around the bench here while I go back and get the electrolysis equipment the what electrolisis equipment said that's what we call this glass apparatus that we're going to use to perform the experiment now I'll need some power Bobby in over by the radios on the back shelf you'll find a super B battery it has some leads attached to the top terminals would you get it for me pleas now I'll add some more water there yeah that's it Bobby fine thank you okay now fellas I want you to watch these little Platinum electrodes in here very very closely because when I attach the battery the current will flow through the water and you'll see something very very special start to happen theb right little bubbles are starting to form where did the bubbles come from aha that is one of the wonderful secrets about water that we'll soon find out now notice that the water level is going down in the tubes as the bubbles continue to appear the water disappears now what do you suppose that means well this may come as a big surprise to you but the electric current running through the water is breaking the water down into the two things from which It's Made In other words the water is being taken apart and we're left with the two elements which used to be the water two gases now the bubbles of one gas collect in the top of of this tube and the bubbles of the other gas collect over here so you see fellas water is really just a combination of two different gases wow two gases mean what is this couple of gases that are put together right Bobby that's it but those gases must be put together in just exactly the right proportion now look at these tubes again do you notice any difference between them yeah there's more water in one tube than there is in the other right you are Ted that means there's more gas forming in the top of this tube and you notice there's twice as much gas in this p as there is in the other one but how do you know which gas is which that's a good question melv let's make a few tests huh now first of all we'll let the gas out of this tube and see what happens there you see see how that burns with a a light blue flame you have to look pretty closely CU it's invisible well we know that hydrogen burns with an almost invisible blue flame therefore this is hydrogen all right now let's test the gas in the other two there you see how that spark in the end of this piece of wood burst into flame and burns very fast yeah that's because that spark has come in contact with oxygen now oxygen itself doesn't burn however it enables other things to burn so by this experiment we know that water is made up of two gases hydrogen and oxygen now the chemical symbol for hydrogen is the letter H and to represent oxygen the letter O was used we call it H2O what does the little two mean all right remember that we decided that there was twice as much of one gas as there is of the other you remember which one well this one have twice as much gas in it uhhuh and you remember what happened with this tube well this tube had a blue flame on the top right hydrogen hydrogen right twice as much hydrogen as there is oxygen and in order to represent that in our chemical formula we use the little number two H2O in other words two parts of hydrogen combining with one part of oxygen makes up the wonderful substance we know as water how about that we use water to put out fire but it's made from two gases which burn like crazy well almost Mike remember that oxygen just helps other things burn now water is a very remarkable liquid all life depends on it and you know water is a wonderful example of the Creator's great wisdom and careful planning and the ways in which our water supplies are regulated and maintained is another remarkable story you see about 34s of the entire surface of the Earth is covered with water the rivers and the lakes and the oceans and the streams but as you know the snowflakes and the raindrops that are formed in the clouds above the Earth are formed from water that is in the air rising from the surface of the the oceans and lakes and rivers and streams are tiny particles of water which usually are so small that you can't see them water in this form is called vapor and the process by which water changes from liquid to Vapor is known as evaporation sometimes however this water in the air can be seen these particles are now droplets of mist but whether you can see it or not there is always water in the air and under the right conditions the water vapor will turn into a liquid you can see evidence of this on a blade of grass or the Petals of a flower it all depends on the temperature and the amount of water in the air the process of changing Vapor to liquid is called condensation the same thing is happening up in the sky when the clouds form as the warm moist air rises it begins to cool and the water vapor in the air condenses into little drops of water as the wind moves the clouds along the drops of water grow bigger until they become too heavy to stay in the air any longer and down they come as raindrops or when the conditions are just right snowflakes are formed which fall silently to the Earth where they remain until the Warm Rays of the Sun cause the snow to melt little drops of water form rivulets and the water pours into streams that go rushing and tumbling down the hillside finally the water is sent splashing into irrigation ditches where it bubbles out to soak deeply into the ground here it is taken in by the roots of thirsty plants plants that bring forth blossoms and fruit of every kind the water freshens the barren Earth changing it into a Land of Plenty another way in which water serves our need is power in olden times water was used to turn water wheels to grind the Grain and cut the lumber today the old water wheel is gone but the power is still there turning modern water wheels the huge turbo generators that change that water power into electrical energy energy sent along wires to places where man puts it to work in thousands of different ways every day and when the day is over the power from the water lights our homes and our city you know I never thought about water that way before neither did I I just drank it and forgot it yes I guess most of us never stopped to realize what God has done for us by giving us water we don't appreciate how much this common ordinary substance means to us we're so used to it we just take it for granted but it helps grow the food we eat it provides electricity and steam for power we use it to keep things clean we boil things in it to sterilize them and prevent disease we drink it we skate on it and we swim in it we make snowballs out of it we use it for cooking and we keep things cold with it yes water is essential to all life without it there would be no grass or trees or any living thing for without water you and I wouldn't be alive right now you know what makes a person feel very very grateful for water two colorless tasteless odorless invisible gases combined in just exactly the right way to give us this wonderful life giving liquid just plain old H2O