What is Water?
Water is considered an inorganic compound that plays a vital role in the existence of many organisms on Earth. It has a chemical formula of H2O. Due to the unique chemical properties of water, it makes for an excellent solvent, often called the universal solvent, where other molecules can be easily dissolved by or in water. Thus, water is used in nearly all manufacturing processes for food and industrial products. In living organisms water exists to create a habitable environment in which cells can exist in stability.
Sources and Manufacturing
Water can be found all over Earth and covers about 70% of the surface of the planet. About 2% of the Earth’s water is found as groundwater, 2% exists as glaciers, and <1% found suspended in air. Most of the freshwater on Earth (~70%) is found in glaciers and snow with ~30% found in groundwater, and ~1% in the atmosphere and other small bodies of water.
Much of freshwater usage by humans goes primarily to agriculture amounting to roughly 70%. Other uses include consumption, food manufacturing, medicine, transportation, industrial processes, sport and play, etc.
Qualities
Water can exist in three distinct forms: 1) liquid (water); 2) solid (ice); 3) gas (steam, water vapor). At sea level, pure water exists as a solid at 0 °C (32 °F) and below. At or above 100 °C (212 °F), pure water boils and exists in the gaseous state at sea level. Interestingly, as the atmospheric pressure decreases, or as elevation increases, water will begin to boil at lower temperatures. The opposite is true as atmospheric pressure increases. This is the property that pressure cookers leverage to more quickly cook food as increasing pressure will increase the boiling point of water and thus allow food to cook at greater temperatures.
Pure water has no taste and no odor and exists as a liquid at room temperature. However, the taste and odor of water can change depending on the dissolved ions in solution.
Pure water in its liquid form has a density of 1 gram/1 mL. However, this density decreases in solid form (reason why ice floats in liquid water).
The ability for water to create relatively strong hydrogen bonds between water molecules allowing for some of the unique properties of water. For example, water has a high specific heat capacity. That is, it requires a substantial amount of energy (~4.2 Joules of energy to increase water 1°C). The hydrogen bonds in water also allow for high surface tension and the ability for water to exhibit capillary action, allowing the flow of water against an external counter force, such as gravity.
This polarity of water is due to the distribution of free electrons from oxygen and the greater electronegativity of oxygen which elicits a partial positive charge at the hydrogen atoms. This creates regional differences (electrical dipole moment) in charge that are positive and negative hence the classification of water as a polar molecule. Due to the polar nature of water, it makes for a poor solvent of non-polar liquids such as oils.
In solution and in solid states, pure water has an intrinsic color of a slight blue hue. This is due to the physical properties of the bonds that exist between the oxygen and hydrogen bonds that essentially cause the absorption of certain wavelengths of light, but the scattering of other wavelengths (primarily blue light) which give the natural color of pure water.
Pure water is also a poor conductor of electricity. However, once ions or salts are added to water, the properties of the pure water can shift slightly. For example, the addition of certain combinations of salts can change the taste and odor of the water. This is why water from certain regions can have different tastes and odors as well as pH. Pure water has a pH of 7, which is in the middle of the pH scale (0 - acidic to 14 - basic). A popular modification to pure water is to increase alkalinity, increasing the pH, which some manufacturers and proponents state have health benefits when consumed, however these claims are equivocal at best. The addition of salts can decrease the resistance of water increasing its conductance of electricity allowing electrical current to flow through a body of water.
Due to the aforementioned qualities of water, carbohydrates such as maltodextrin, sucrose, fructose, and dextrose can readily dissolve in water. This is due to the hydrophilic properties of carbohydrates such that water can readily bind to the individual molecules of the carbohydrates via hydrogen bonds and disperse evenly throughout water. However, some types of more complex carbohydrates such as pectin may not fully disperse in water and rather interact with water creating a product that is viscous and gel-like in texture and appearance.
Water in Carbs Fuel Products
The water used in Carbs Fuel products, specifically any gel product, is uniquely sourced and contributes to the flavor, odor, and pH profile of the gel. While other “types” of water such as tap, distilled, glacial, spring, etc. can be used to make a gel, the taste, texture, and pH can be impacted due to the presences of, or lack thereof, certain minerals. This is why at home gel formulations may not taste the same as commercial products, among other reasons. As such, the water used in our energy gels plays an integral role in the creation of our gel formula. The order and temperature in which water is added during the gel manufacturing processes is incredibly important to ensure proper integration and stability of all the ingredients into the final gel product.
