http://www.nature.com/srep/2013/131021/srep03005/full/srep03005.html

Sci Rep, 3, 3005 (2013) DOI: 10.1038/srep03005

Abstract

Thestructural symmetry and molecular separation in water and ice remain uncertain.We present herewith a solution to unifying the density, the structure order andsymmetry, the size (H-O length d_H), and the separation (d_OO= d_L + d_H or the O:H length d_L) of moleculespacking in water and ice in terms of statistic mean. This solution reconciles:i) the d_L and the d_H symmetrization of the O:H-O bond incompressed ice, ii) the d_OO relaxationof cooling water and ice and, iii) the d_OO expansion of a dimer andbetween molecules at water surface. With any one of the d_OO, thedensity r(g×cm^-3), the d_L, and the d_H, as aknown input, one can resolve the rest quantities using this solution that isprobing conditions or methods independent. We clarified that: i) liquid waterprefers statistically the mono-phaseof tetrahedrally-coordinated structure with fluctuation, ii) the low-densityphase (supersolid phase as it is strongly polarized with even lower density)exists only in regions consisting molecules with fewer than four neighbors and,iii) repulsion between electron pairs on adjacent oxygen atoms dictates thecooperative relaxation of the segmented O:H-O bond, which is responsible forthe performance of water and ice.

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