Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Science question, simple answer needed

Ok, I'm pretty good with science, but can anyone help me figure out how to explain what happens on a molecular level when something like glass or ice breaks in a simple way? A good website with simple pictures would be a plus.

Wolf knows about molecules and atoms and understands that water has two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, but not a whole lot more than that. He would LOVE a full explanation of molecular physics, but that isn't going to happen right now, I just don't have the time or energy... That and it's just a bit mind numbing to me that he's 5 (!!!) and wanting to know all about this...

Wyldkat,

I wish I could help you, but I'm struggling with answering my DS6's question about whether, in a baptism, the water itself actually baptizes you! The things these kids think about and need help conceptualizing! They are just amazing little creatures, aren't they?!

I hope someone else here can help you. I know when water freezes that the molecules form tightly packed circles (and thus the ice takes up more volume than the water of which it is composed) and from that I would surmise that those circles of molecules would break apart when the ice breaks, but I'm not sure!

This is not quite the same thing, but when my DS wanted to know why glass was transparent and my lame "because that's the way the molecules are arranged" wasn't good enough (lol), here's what I found:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/question404.htm

I might be wrong so don't rely on my explanation without checking them but I believe that individual water molecules are bound to each other by hydrogen bonds and I would think that when the ice changes phase to water, those hydrogen bonds get broken or become more loose, or something. Just a guess.

My DH says that it's as simple as the molecules physically separating at some fracture point (the point of impact) after some force impacts the glass or ice.

Well in all technicality you could baptise with juice. It's the symbolism that matters. Water specifically is connected with cleansing and baptism cleanses you of your sins and makes you pure and connected with God (of whatever belief) since God is a part of everything. You could explain symbolism and go from there? (I'm a minister in case that matters)

I explained that basically, but he wanted more and I just don't know where to go from there without getting complicated!!!

I bet your local high school physics teacher could break it down for him and he'd love it!

Mine once asked where blood comes from to our allergist and he took 20 minutes to draw a diagram and actually explain it. Talk about teachable moments!

Good luck

It is basically fracturing, but I do have some more about interactions of molecules (what fractures and, actually, what happens similarly in phase transitions--such as ice melting).
Molecules interact with each other through several different ways:

1) Hydrogen bonding.
This occurs mainly due to electronegativity of molecularly bonded atoms. Atoms to the right of the periodic table (excluding noble gases) have negative charges as ions, and atoms to the left of the periodic table have positive charges as ions (gaining and losing electrons in solution, respectively). Two very differently charged atoms form ionic compounds. Those with a lesser difference of electronegativity form molecular compounds, such as water. However, these differences in electronegativity result in partial negative and partial positive charges in atoms in the molecule, as the shared electrons spend more time around atoms with more electronegativity (such as oxygen) than around atoms with less electronegativity (such as hydrogen). Because of this partial charge, an electronegative atom in a molecule (especially nitrogen and oxygen) will interact weakly with other molecules with hydrogen (which has a partial positive charge in most compounds).
Depending on the number of these connections (and the ones below) in a compound such as ice and the angles at which these connections (and the ones below) are formed, solids acquire properties related to how much applied force is necessary to break a substance made of these molecules.
Also, these intermolecular interactions are what are broken when a substance is heated and when it undergoes a phase transition (vaporization, freezing, sublimation...)

2) Polar interactions.
These are similar to what is described above (electronegativity differences within a molecule as a result of unequal electron sharing), except that these do not involve hydrogen atoms. These are also weaker bonds than hydrogen bonding.

3) VanDerWaals interactions.
These occur when compounds have only similarly electronegative atoms in their molecules, such as mixtures of gasoline (hexane, octane... in which molecules are only made of hydrogen and carbon atoms). These are the weakest interactions and become important in organic chemistry (as does hydrogen bonding).

These are some important concepts in organic chemistry, physical chemistry, and mechanical engineering, if Wolf wants to learn more than this. Most textbooks will likely have much too complicated math as an explanation but tend to have lots of good pictures and graphs demonstrating these principles. (FYI, this conceptual level is about what is expected in introductory college chemistry and physics courses).

I hope that helps!

Thanks! I think this will satisfy him if I can break it down with pictures to go with the words. He picks up concepts quickly but really large words tend to throw him at first.