• Question: where did water come from

    Asked by draw46can to Philip, Maxime, Jake, Amy Heather on 11 Nov 2019.
    • Photo: Maxime Savatier

      Maxime Savatier answered on 11 Nov 2019: last edited 11 Nov 2019 12:56 pm

      Water (H2O) is composed of two hydrogen (H) and one oxygen (O), attached together by a chemical bound. Hydrogen was formed in the first instant of the universe (the big bang). And oxygen, along with other large atoms was formed later on within stars larger than our sun (under really high temperatures by a process called fusion). In essence, we are all made of star dust:)

      A very long time after this, scientist found that some water was already present when our planet formed. Some of it may also have come later on from space from meteorites falling on Earth.

      You can read more bellow:
      https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/10/141030-starstruck-earth-water-origin-vesta-science/

    • Photo: Jake Cunningham

      Jake Cunningham answered on 11 Nov 2019:

      A lot of Earth’s water came from asteroids and comets, but this does not explain how so much water ended up on Earth’s surface. Some new research also says that some of Earth’s water came from the vast cloud of dust and gas remaining after the sun’s formation, called the solar nebula.

    • Photo: Amy Heather Fitzpatrick

      Amy Heather Fitzpatrick answered on 22 Nov 2019:

      So water on earth as both Jake and Maxime said is though in some way to have come from our solar system. There are a few theories out there, and the way they investigate these theories is by looking at the isotopes in water found in space and the isotopes of water on earth. So to explain this, I need to explain two things here, which are atoms and isotopes.

      Everything int he world and universe is made up of atoms. Atoms are tiny and are made up of even smaller parts. These are called electrons, protons, and neutrons. Atoms can react with other atoms or bigger elements in chemical reactions, sharing electrons with other atoms. Isotopes are atoms that have the same number of protons and electrons, but a different number of neutrons. Changing the number of neutrons in an atom does not change the element. Atoms of elements with different numbers of neutrons are called “isotopes” of that element. So if you can understand that much, isotopes of water in space that are similar to the isotopes found on earth, could explain where the water came from. There is something called heavy water or deuterium, where the hydrogen in water contains an extra neutron, so its an isotope of hydrogen.

      Both asteroids and comets can have ice inside them or on the outside. Scientists discovered that the ratio of heavy water to “regular” water on comets was different than that on Earth, suggesting that, at most, 10% of Earth’s water could have originated on a comet. So then scientists looked at other asteroids in space a few years ago and though that water was more similar to the water on earth. So the answer.. is we don’t really know where it came from but science is trying to answer this question.

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