Water Research Article Summary

http://www.futurity.org/science-technology/dead-simple-way-to-see-atomic-structure/

‘Dead simple’ way to see atomic structure

James Heath a professor at Cal-tech and colleagues made a great discovery by accident when they were studying graphene on an atomically flat surface of mica and found nanoscal island-shaped structures trapped between the graphene. They didnt expect to see the mica. Its had to study water coating because the water is always moving so they cant get measurements. They found out that water was what was captured under the graphene. They realized that the graphene was grabbing the water molecules tightly so that it couldnt move. By doing this they could see detailed atomic structure of the water molecules, useing an atomic force microscopy. When they used this technique they found out that the first layer of water on mica is actually two water molecule thick and has the structure of ice. Now they are trying to determine the stuctures of other molecules using this.


Self evaluation: I think this is interesting, it is kind of hard for me to understand it all but I get it. I think this is great because now they can learn even more and discover more, and more new things about molecules. It shows how much we dont know yet but are trying to learn.