Browse Physics

Placing a water molecule inside a 60-carbon-atom cage creates a structure that can be guided by an electric field.

The lead-acid battery found in most cars owes much of its voltage to relativistic effects in the lead atom, as shown by simulations.

Nanoscale simulations of a classic experiment show that it’s harder to cut through ice with the pressure of a water-repelling wire than with a water-attracting one.

A new technique gives more detailed images of molecules by measuring the quantum mechanical repulsion between the imaged molecule and a small probe molecule.

A combination of simulations and experiments explicitly demonstrates that common chemical reactions can drive convection flows in fluids.

Negative ions dissolved in water may be attracted to the surface because of the rearrangement of charges within the ions.

The 2007 Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to a pioneer in surface science who explained several common reactions, including one that helps cars run cleaner.

Water molecules become frozen in place in a shell surrounding dissolved oily molecules, an important effect for proteins and other biomolecules.

New calculations explain why water has such a strong response to electric fields.

A nanoscale “thread” of water molecules could be a valuable tool for studying the behavior of water at the molecular level.

In a newly discovered phase of ice, the hydrogen nuclei appear to move and carry electric current–possibly powering planetary magnetic fields.

Researchers produced the fastest movies ever made of electron motion by shining x rays at water.

A computer simulation gives the structures of possible salt crystals at their moments of formation in salt water.

Water and all other liquids that expand as they cool can exist in two distinct forms, theorists say.

A new study reveals the structure of water bound to a metal surface, a fundamental yet long unanswered question.

Polarized light can determine the precise structure of a growing crystal, opening the way for fine-tuned pharmaceuticals and novel materials.

A cold, disordered solid made of alcohol refuses to crystallize at warmer temperatures where it ought to; instead it forms a viscous liquid.

The freezing of alcohol-coated water drops may illuminate the process of ice formation in the atmosphere.

Ultrafast x-ray pulses allow researchers to watch a reaction unfold on a surface.

A surprising effect traps dye particles within narrow bands in a tank of whirling fluid. Such focusing may influence chemical reactions and the motions of water vapor in the atmosphere.