Detecting the 4th state of the water

In addition to the three known states of solid, liquid, gas, water exists in the strange fourth state named "tunnel" when placed under extremely high pressure in small spaces.

According to Gizmag, researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), USA, found water in ultra-small six-sided ducts from beryl minerals , which form the basis for gem-like gems. blue and emerald. The pipes are about 5 atoms wide and act as cages containing a molecule of water inside. Amidst this cramped space, water molecules exhibit a characteristic that is usually seen only at a much smaller quantum level, called tunneling.

Basically, quantum tunneling means a particle, or in this case a molecule, that can cross the barrier and on both sides of the barrier at the same time. This is similar to dropping a ball in the first hill and letting it roll onto the second hill. The second hill is the barrier and the ball only has enough energy to reach the height it was originally dropped. If the second hill is higher than the first hill, the ball cannot roll over the top of the hill.

Illustrating the strange shape of the water molecule inside the beryl tube.(Photo: ORNL).

"In classical physics, atoms cannot jump over barriers if they don't have enough energy to do this," said lead author Alexander Kolesnikov, the lead author of the study today. Physical Review Letters, said. But in the case of water trapped in beryl ducts, water molecules work according to quantum physics law.

"Oxygen and hydrogen atoms in the water molecule are displaced from the position and immediately appear in all six symmetrical positions in the pipeline at the same time. This is one of the phenomena that occurs only in quantum mechanics. and there have been no similar cases in daily life , " Kolesnikov said.

By using a neutron dispersion experiment, the researchers were able to observe water molecules spreading into two ripples. In the center of ripples, hydrogen atoms split in 6 different directions at the same time. " The tunnel here can be understood that hydrogen atoms don't lie in one place, but radiate in a circle," the team said.

Researchers at ORNL do not know exactly the cause and how to form a new state of water. They are still exploring the mechanism that leads to phenomena.