An interesting discussion as to the compressibility or incompressibility of liquids.

[Ziff]

I believe that's called a covalent bond, although I'm no chemist, so I'm not entirely sure on the terminology.

I think he meant molecule of water, not atom of water. (At least I hope so.) And yes, It's held together with a polar covalent bond.

[Shadownailshot]

I think he meant molecule of water, not atom of water. (At least I hope so.) And yes, It's held together with a polar covalent bond.

Well the important part was that H2O isn't held together by nuclear forces.

[calhoun1]

Well the important part was that H2O isn't held together by nuclear forces.

Yea my mistake. I have been dealing with individual atomic behavior too much. I meant the molecules. And realize I am off base a bit. Sorry about that!

[Kosmo-not]

Liquids are compressible. The density change is so small (under typical conditions, at least) that we model liquids as incompressible to simplify calculations.

[iplop]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_XI

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice#Phases

Water cannot be compressed in liquid form, however, it can be compressed into other forms.

Edited September 14, 2012 by iplop

[bsalis]

They're not held together by nuclear forces, they share electrons. I believe that's called a covalent bond, ...

Yes, true. AFAIK all chemical bonding falls under Electromagnetic force, rather then the Strong and Weak nuclear forces.

As for on-topic. So from what I have read in this post, it appears that water will not have a much higher density on a higher gravity planet. Which would mean that something that floats will actually sink if the gravity is high enough. Right?

[ahruman]

Which would mean that something that floats will actually sink if the gravity is high enough. Right?

No. In higher gravity, the gravitational force on the ship is stronger, but the gravitational force on the displaced water is stronger by exactly the same amount, so they cancel out. See nhnifong’s comment on top of page 3.