Compressing Water: What Happens and Is It Possible?

[mexfight]

what happens to the atoms in water when it is compressed so much that all atoms have no space to move?

im guessing that it will become thicker, almost soup like.

But what happens after that, does it become solid water?

also, is it possible to set up such an experiment in the real world that can simulate these types of massive pressures it would take to achieve this?

Thanks

 

[tomyuey938]

Yes, eventually it will turn to solid (assuming your temperature doesn't change).

Find your temperature / pressure on this phase diagram [1] then track upwards as you increase the pressure at constant temperature. It will eventually turn to ice as the molecules are forced together, though the pressure at which this occurs depends on the temperature.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase_diagram#Crystal_phase_diagrams

You'll notice that there are many different types of ice (VI, VII, etc), each of which has a slightly different crystal structure. Depending on your temperature and pressure, the ice you form by compression will have one of these structures.

And yes, it's possible to set this up in experiment (huge pressures can be achieved in labs!).

 

[mexfight]

That pretty much answered all of my burning questions.

Much appreciated
Thanks