Question

what are the properties of water?

Answer 1

Can you be more specific? There are probably entire books written about smaller topics. It is a polar molecule. Using standard nomenclature (prefix nomenclature) it is called dihydrogen monoxide. The 'hydrogen bond' (an intermolecular force) between the hydrogen of one water molecule and the oxygen of other water molecules is the reason it is liquid at room temperature. It is a good solvent because of it's polarity....

Answer 2

Okay, so water has adhesion, and cohesion, it also has the ability to spread out when it freezes. This makes water in it's solid form, much less dense than in liquid form. Water molecules are polar, this allows for hydrogen bonds to form. These hydrogen bonds give water the ability to have a high surface tension, and also water is a good moderator of heat due to these bonds. This is because the hydrogen bonds allow for water to have a high specific heat. Water's hydrogen bonds are a direct result of the polar covalent bonds between the oxygen and hydrogen atoms.

Answer 3

Water is cohesive - water molecules are attracted to other water molecules through hydrogen bonding. Relates to surface tension. Trees, for example, take advantage of waters cohesiveness to draw water up through the trunks.

Water is adhesive - water molecules are attracted to other types of molecules. Relates to the meniscus of water in a glass test tube.

Water has a high capacity for storing heat. A large body of water contains a large amount of energy (heat) even though it's temperature might be relatively low. This helps regulate temperatures on Earth.

Ice floats - Solid H2O is less dense than liquid H2O. This is due to the crystalline structure that water forms as it cools. This also attributes to the reason that ice expands as it cools.

Water molecules are transparent to light

Water is an excellent solvent

Answer 4

Crawforc3 nailed it. Except the third trait he listed, about the storing heat, is more commonly referred to as a high specific heat.