The Waves Twist Water Molecules

The waves twist water molecules

Food is full of water. Zoom in far enough and you see water molecules. One end of each molecule (oxygen, red) is slightly negative, and the other end (hydrogen, white) is slightly positive. As the waves pass, plus and minus keep switching, like the plates above and below. Each time, the molecules get twisted one way and then the other. This happens 4.9 billion times a second.

Why?Just as the north and south poles of magnets pull on each other, plus and minus electric charges attract. So the positive end of a molecule turns toward the negative plate, and the negative end toward the positive plate. When the plates switch, the molecules turn the other way.

Learn morePlus and minus switch twice for every wiggle of the wave, so that is 4.9 billion times a second. The blue lines are the pull between neighboring water molecules, called hydrogen bonds. The motion on screen is billions of times slower than in real life.

How often + and − switch

4.9 billion a second

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