LATENT HEAT FUSIONThe miraculous shape of the water molecule ..
I was riding today, a raw winter's day, on my way to the shops, saying the Lord's prayer which I had omitted this morning, when I found myself reflecting on the fact that it was Latent Heat, more specifically that of water, that really finally convinced me that this world without a Creator is just the purest nonsense. You see it's February in Holland, and there was just the first sign of a thaw. 1*C said the thermometer, but that didn't mean that suddenly every crystal of snow and ice turned into water. Why? What is it that saves us from a flood every Spring? Latent heat fusion. It was like this ...It was more that forty years ago and I was part of a group of Mountain Club members who had labored up Grays Pass in the Drakensberg in heavy snow. We were well kitted out, so there was no real risk. What I did in those crazy days for fun!First it was the Latent heat of fusion that really ratted on us. We weren't expecting the cold and melting the snow for our soup used a good deal more benzine than expected. Of course, latent heat of condensation came as no surprise - many of us were scientists, so we knew that it takes a lot of energy to turn water into the steam needed to cook our rice. But then the next morning, waking up to a magic world ...
As the thaw began, my then unknown companion, Geoff Bamber, and I started to talk informally about how the Latent Heat Fusion was what saved the world from a mass flood. Without it, all that ice and snow would have instantly turned back into water. LATENT HEAT OF FUSIONSo what is latent heat fusion? It's that amount of energy that is required to turn water into ice, or ice to water for that matter, WITHOUT A CHANGE OF TEMPERATURE. Jup, that's it. It takes energy to turn a solid into a liquid without it getting even one tenth of a degree hotter. And visa versa.And for water it takes an astonishing amount of energy. Far more than other common substances: (kJ/kg) Water 334 Carbon dioxide 184 Hydrogen 58 Lead 25 Oxygen 14 Alcohol 108 If you want to be a scientist then we talk about moles and joules and stuff, but that's not important. It's the principle that counts. It takes one heck of a lot of energy to turn snow at 0*C into water at 0*C. And without that one little fact, the Earth would be virtually uninhabitable. Literally. Water would evaporate at the drop of hat causing massive storms as the seas evaporated, and flooding, and any snow on our mountains would turn instantly to water as soon as the temperature rose to half a degree above freezing. And so the great search began ...Talking as one scientist to another, one beggar telling another where to find bread, Geoff started to share with me how knowing Jesus Christ as his friend had brought meaning to his life. You can read about my own struggle to find joy in this seemingly meaningless world in this chapter from Frog in my Throat.LEAP OF FAITH ...
A bit of science ...
Life on Earth can only exist because of one tiny fact: the water molecule isn't like it's first cousin, carbon dioxide. CO2 is linear. If water was like CO2 I wouldn't be writing this page. Because I wouldn't be. Nor would you! We won't go into the chemistry of it, but to put it simply, the electrons of oxygen are arranged in such a way in water so that the hydrogens are distorted. To be exact, in water the H-O-H angle is 104.5* whereas in CO2 it's 180* of course. That little difference is what makes the difference between life and no-life. Could that happen by chance? As a scientist I found the belief that water has this odd shape came about my mere chance far more improbable that my watch could be simply a random occurrence. And I still don't. And the genome of a fruit fly is a million times more complex that the water molecule. Also chance. You and me? Chance? No way, Jose. LATENT HEAT FUSION Water
What perhaps might be bizarre to some is that the theory of Darwin doesn't bother me one iota. Newton discovered the law of gravity, the principle that God created to stop us from flying off into space, and keeping the Earth in orbit around the sun. Darwin may have discovered how God went about Creation. Does that both me? Not in the slightest. In fact, I think it's one huge red herring, drawing us away from the fact that God, in Jesus Christ, loves us with an everlasting love. That we are a fallen people, and He is going to call us one day to account. And that in Jesus Christ we have complete and total forgiveness of our sin. "It is done," He cried. He paid the price for my sin. Richard Dawkins may taunt me about believing in fairies at the bottom of my garden. So be it. He has faith in an even greater improbability - that the water molecule, and all that goes with it came about as a mere accident of chance. As my friend Geoff said:"That's like believing that your watch came about by a flash of lightning, some sand was turned into glass, and iron ore into steel." Isn't more sensible to believe that my watch has the stamp of a creator. And so does the water molecule and its massive Latent Heat Fusion.
MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGE (MRI)
Forty years ago was long before the discovery of MRI. I had no idea at the time, but the fact that water has polar properties was going to become profoundly important in my life for another completely different reason. Therein lies the reason that all the water molecules in our bodies will line up a powerful magnetic field, and so make this magnificent scan of the spine possible. Without the dipolar nature of water, we couldn't make MRIs. Beautifully, fearfully and wonderfully made. Yes, I believe in an all powerful Creator who created. And in his only begotten (not created) Son, Jesus Christ.
The humble water strider
Fairies? Well, if Rodin can believe there's nymph dwelling in every tree, then I can believe in a Creator God!
I'm quite sure there's a nymph living in every apple tree. God's gift to the unhappy colon. APPLE DIET ... INTERESTING LINKSGo from Latent Heat Fusion to BERNARD PRESTON home page …Return from Latent Heat Fusion to LONELY ROAD OF FAITH …
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