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Water's Chemical PropertiesAll these water molecules attracting each other mean they tend to clump together. This is why water drops are, in fact, drops! If it wasn't for some of Earth's forces, such as gravity, a drop of water would be ball shaped -- a perfect sphere. Even if it doesn't form a perfect sphere on Earth, we should be happy water is sticky. Water is called the "universal solvent" because it dissolves more substances than any other liquid. This means that wherever water goes, either through the ground or through our bodies, it takes along valuable chemicals, minerals, and nutrients. Pure water has a neutral pH of 7, which is neither acidic nor basic. Water's Physical Properties· Water is a unique substance. In which it is the only neutral substance in the three states - liquid, solid, and gas - at the temperatures normally found on Earth. Earth's water is constantly changing, and in movement.· Water freezes at 32o Fahrenheit and boils at 212o F (at sea level, but 186.4° at 14,000 feet). Water's freezing and boiling points are the baseline with which temperature is measured: 0o on the Celsius scale is water's freezing point, and 100o is water's boiling point. Water is unusual in that the solid form, ice, is less dense than the liquid form, which is why ice floats. · Water has a high specific heat index. This means that water can absorb a lot of heat before it begins to get hot. This is why water is valuable to industries and in your car's radiator as a coolant. The high specific heat index of water also helps regulate the rate at which air changes temperature, which is why the temperature change between seasons is gradual rather than sudden, especially near the oceans. · Water has a very high surface tension. In other words, water is sticky and elastic, and tends to clump together in drops rather than spread out in a thin film. Surface tension is responsible for capillary action, which allows water to move through the roots of plants and through the tiny blood vessels in our bodies.