Re: ICE vs Water

["Jim Lux" <jimlux-at-xxxxxxxxxxxxx> (by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-xxxxxxxxxx>)]

Whether it's in the ground or not, here's the scoop..

Liquid water has molecules that can move around.  Water is highly polar
(that means the molecules are + at one end and - at the other), so an RF
field makes the molecules flip back and forth, as well as move along the
field.  The movement isn't friction free - so the water gets hot... the
principle behind the microwave oven (and diathermy, for that matter). Some
of the water is ionized (oddly, about 1e7 ions in 18 grams of water), and
the ions drift through, allowing DC current to flow.

Solid water has the molecules locked into a lattice where they can't move.
Actually, they can move, a little, but not as much: the lattice is like a
bunch of fairly stiff springs.  They move less, so the frictional losses
are less, which is why frozen stuff doesn't heat well in a microwave.  And,
the ions aren't able to move around as freely, which is why the DC
resistance is much higher.

In the case of salts in the water (typical in soil), the ions from the
salts can't move either when the water is frozen.

> dave,
> this is absolutely correct. in "laying out" the power of a local medical
> facility, this point was brought up.
> it was explained to me by a EE and from what i gathered from the ,over my
> head, overly complicated, boy am i confused now, explanation, i took it
> to boil down to contact area of the ground particles? if the earth is
> frozen, the ice crystals don't contact each other in a "smooth" form as
> if there is a liquid water bond?
> this is were i learned about using tree fertilizer spikes around ground
> rods, it seems the nitrates not only add to the conductivity, but help
> when frozen some how?
> i had completely forgotten about this until you mentioned it, thank you.
> marc