Scientists continue to study the physical properties of Earth's most fundamental compound, water. A new experiment has revealed a new state of water.

Researchers found out that when placed under a temperature between 40 and 60 degrees Celsius, water will arrive at a "crossover temperature" that will commence the shift of the compound into its two different states. H20 possesses the highest surface tension of all liquids excluding Mercury. Its liquid state also allows the solid state float while its frozen state is capable of expanding, unlike other substances.

Philip Ball said in Nature that "no one really understands water." In fact, its boiling point is also strange compared to substances like hydrogen sulphide and hydrogen telluride that decreases while the size of their molecule declines. Prior to this discovery, water was only known for its solid, liquid and gas state.

However, scientists revealed that it also has a plasma-like state. Ball said that "it's embarrassing to admit it, but the stuff that covers two-thirds of our planet is still a mystery. Worse, the more we look, the more the problems accumulate: new techniques probing deeper into the molecular architecture of liquid water are throwing up more puzzles."

As part of the study, physicist Laura Maestro from the University of Oxford and her team examined several properties of the compound. The research covered H2O's refractive index, thermal conductivity, surface tension, conductivity and dielectric constant. The researchers also observed how the compound responded to temperature fluctuations between 0 and 100 degrees Celsius and how electric field travels through it. Maestro's team found out that under 40 degrees Celsius, the properties of water will start to shift until it reaches 60 degrees Celsius.

Every property will undergo "crossover temperature" due to the different phases of H2O. The researchers revealed that change in the properties of water manifest at 64 degrees Celsius for thermal conductivity, approximately 53 degrees Celsius for conductivity, 50 degrees Celsius for refractive index, and 57 degrees Celsius for surface tension. The researchers concluded that "in the 0-100 degrees Celsius range, liquid water presents a crossover temperature in many of its properties close to 50 degrees Celsius."

Maestro's findings have to be retested by an independent group before publication about the new state of water in textbooks.