Water of Hydration
Water as a small molecule has unique properties, different than other similar compounds in different phases (gas, liquid, or solid). As you recall, when water is frozen it is less dense than liquid water, meaning that the bonds are not closer together but are more spread out in the solid or frozen state. Water in different phases forms different arrangements or lattices. This is the reason ice is less dense than water and why ice floats in water rather than sinks. Ice, the solid form of water, has fewer molecules per square inch as compared to the liquid state.
Compounds other than water tend to form bonds closer together when frozen and thus there are more molecules per square inch making frozen or solid particles heavier as compared to when in their liquid state. However, water molecules in the liquid state bond with each other more tightly than in the solid state due to the unique polarization of water. The positive pole of one water molecule is attracted to the negative pole of the next water molecule and so on. This tends to hold water together and each molecule of water in the liquid state is fairly bound up by hydrogen bonding to the next water molecule. The molecules of water form tightly bound clusters or sheets of water. This has been referred to as the crystalline nature of liquid water.
When a particle that is small enough to be suspended is added to water, it can disintegrate this cohesive bonding between water molecules. It splits up the sheers of water that have formed. Alternatively it then allows another system to form. The silicate can specifically bind the water. When certain particles such as silicate minerals are added to water, they decrea.se the surface tension. In other words, the water spreads out further when spilled, for instance. It is more "fluid" meaning that the hydrogen bonds holding molecules of water together have an interfering molecule present, which breaks up the patterns.
Dispersed water can solubilize or surround other particles better making them more easily transported in a fluid system, such as the blood. This also helps make water molecules available for suspending other molecules or nutrients, attach to various enzymes that need water, participate in hydrolysis reactions (chemical reactions that require water) and perform other vital functions. This property of water is associated with the surface tension. When Microhydrin®, is added to water it decreases the surface tension from 73 dynes to 45 dynes. This difference represents the surface tension of digestive fluid and blood, another property important in the dispersion and transport of nutrients.
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