Water

Water is all about extremes. The atoms that make up water molecules were forged in some of the hottest environments in the universe. But most of the molecules formed in the cold of deep space.

A water molecule consists of two hydrogen atoms plus one oxygen atom – H-2-O. A hydrogen atom contains one electron and one proton. The electrons formed in the first fraction of a second after the Big Bang, when the universe was extremely hot and dense. The protons formed a few minutes later.

By about 380,000 years, the universe had expanded and cooled enough for the electrons and protons to stick together to form atoms. And today, hydrogen accounts for more than 90 percent of all the atoms in the universe.

Hydrogen and helium, the other major element forged in the Big Bang, soon came together to make stars. And a star’s core is hot enough to “fuse” lighter elements to create heavier ones.

The first steps in that process create carbon, nitrogen, and especially oxygen – the third-most abundant element in the universe. When stars die, they expel some of those elements into space. And in the cold away from the stars, hydrogen and oxygen can stick together to make molecules of water. Some of the water’s incorporated into planets – including our own.

So the next time you take a cool drink of water, think of the hot-and-cold origins of this important compound.

We’ll have more about water tomorrow.

Script by Damond Benningfield