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Properties of water and their significance
Properties of water and their significance
Properties of water essays
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Have you ever wondered what happens when water and electricity mix? This research paper will discuss the physics behind how the pH of salt solutions changes when an electric charge is passed through it. There are many different avenues of exploration to take with the complex physics of this project all of which are unique and interesting. A salt bridge is a non-covalent interaction between two ionized sites. It contains two components: a hydrogen bond and an electrostatic interaction (Salt Bridges). The scientific term salt bridge has two different uses in chemistry. The original use is described as an electrically conductive gel union that is between two half-cells of a voltaic cell studied in the field of electrochemistry. The second …show more content…
One half of an oxidation reduction (redox) reaction takes place in each half-cell. Alessandro Volta demonstrated this basic principle by stacking zinc and silver disks that were separated by paper disks saturated in salt water in about 1800. The salt water was used as the salt bridge. By stacking several of these zinc-bridge-silver disk sets, he was able to pick up an electrical shock when he touched both ends simultaneously. A real battery cell had been constructed in 1836 by John Frederick Daniell, who used zinc and copper. A strip of each metal was dipped in a solution of its own kind of metal ion. The two strips were connected by a wire and the two solutions were connected by a porous ceramic tubing filled with salt water, which was the salt bridge (In Chemistry, What is a Salt …show more content…
The different properties of water allow it to be labeled as one of the most important substances for life on the earth, and most of it has to do with its chemical structure. Again, water is composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. The arrangement of these atoms is the property that makes water such a good solvent. Rather than being arranged straight across, the two hydrogen atoms are at a 104.5 degree angle, making the molecule appear as a silhouette of a cartoon mouse. This makes one side of the molecule- the oxygen side- able to be negative, while the other side- the hydrogen side- is able to be positive. Since water contains this unique makeup, it is often considered a universal solvent. Different substances from sugar, to salt, and also to acids such as vinegar are able to be dissolved in water. Oils and fats are not able to be dissolved in water because they have no charge and the water molecule is more attracted to itself than the fat and so it will pool to one area. Another of the interesting properties of water is that it contains a high specific heat. Specific heat is the measurement of how much heat it takes to raise the temperature of one gram of water that is one degree Celsius. Water is able to absorb a lot of heat without changing temperature, and so it has a high specific heat. This results in water cooling down and heating up much more slowly than the air surrounding it. Ice also contains an interesting
(Na+ and CL-) do not react to form a salt until the Water is formed
“Chemistry is the study of substances; their properties, structure, and the changes they undergo” (Lower). Chemistry is the study of all the stuff in the world and especially how they change. My experiment deals mostly with the change of substances. Some of the concepts involved in my experiment are Oxidation/Reduction (redox) reactions, electrolysis, pH, and electrical currents. A redox reaction is a reaction in which there is a transfer of electrons from one substance to another. There are two paired parts to a redox reaction: the oxidation and the reduction. The oxidation is the loss of electrons while the reduction is the gain of electrons. They always occur together because one substance has to receive the electrons that another substance is giving up. Electrolysis is a process where electricity goes through a liquid, which causes chemical reactions to occur. pH is the measure of how acidic or basic something is. More exactly, it is, at least indirectly, the number of hydrogen ions there are in a liter of solution. A hydrogen ion is a hydroge...
The hydrolysis of salts can be determined on the basis of the strength of the acid or base which forms it. If the salt is formed from a strong acid and a strong base, such as NaCl, the salt will form a neutral solution, since the anions of the acid and the cations of the base will not react with the water. A salt from a weak base and a strong acid, with NH4Cl as an example, will form an acidic solution. This is due to the cations from the base that increase the hydrogen ion concentration, by donating protons, which is known as a Bronsted acid. When concerning a salt formed by a weak acid and a strong base, such as Na C2H3O2, a basic solution will form. The anions of a weak acid in water will generate hydroxide ions, since the molecule will accept protons. It is termed as a Bronsted base. Though no examples were present, the salt that forms from a weak acid and a weak base can be determined by comparing the Ka (cation) and the Kb (anion) values. Most metallic ions, those found in groups 1A and 2A on the periodic table, such as Ca2+, a strong base, will have no reaction with water. However, all other metallic ions will undergo hydrolysis to form an acidic solution, such as KAl (SO4)2. As the Al is the molecule that was hydrolyzed, the spectator ions would not be present in the hydrolysis reaction, as is shown in the net ionic equations
Schlesinger, Mordechay. "Electrochemistry Encyclopedia." Electroplating. Department of Physics, University of Windsor, Sept. 2002. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.
As for the pure/distilled water not conducting electricity, it is because it is very filtered free of minerals. Essentially, distilled water lacks ions to efficiently conduct electricity, this also applies to the pure substance of sodium chloride and sucrose which lack ions, atoms that have a net negative or positive charge. However, according to the results, the sucrose is slightly conductive, which may suggest a possible contamination in the solution. At the end it can be reasoned that because ions were made in the NaCl solution, ions contribute to the conductivity.
Specific heat: The specific heat (s) of a substance is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 g of the substance by 1°C.()
... along with the negative lone pair of a different water molecule, termed as hydrogen bonding. This hydrogen bonding is a form of a brittle electrostatic attraction, giving rise to a complicated system of molecules. Thus, water is all the more related to chemistry. In fact, most of the processes and chemical reaction comprises of the molecule of water one way or the other, may that be formation of the solution as a solvent, or may that be the testing of the electronegativity of the substance, every where in the chemistry, we see the role of water. Water is not just related to scientific chemistry, but also related to the chemistry of life, as the life form is more or less comprised and build up of water. References Chemistry in Context" Wm C Brown Publishers, Dubuque Iowa, 2nd edition, A project of the American Chemical Society, ed: A. Truman Schwartz et al., 1997
Salt is made up of sodium and chlorine and it is a natural occurrence on our planet, it can be found and harvested mainly from the seas, oceans or salt lakes. However salt can also be mined from within the earth from dried up underground seas, normally it’s only used as road salt (maldonsalt). The product salt has multiple functions, Salt is used to preserve foods and also to flavor foods, salt can also be used as a stabilizer in water and rock salt is used to melt ice during the winter (Freeman, 2007).
The porpoise of these is to determine the Specific Heat. Also known as Heat Capacity, the specific heat is the amount of the Heat Per Unit mass required to raise the temperature by one degree Celsius. The relationship between heat and temperature changed is usually expected in the form shown. The relationship does not apply if a phase change is encountered because the heat added or removed during a phase change does not change the temperature.
Quickly and carefully transfer the heated metal from the test tube to the water in the calorimeter.
The Biological Importance of Water as a Solvent and as a Medium for Living Organisms
water.htm letts key stage three classbook, Science. Terry Hudson-1998
Water has a great number of roles in living organisms, this is largely to do with the structure and covalent bonding in a single water molecule, and between water molecules. Around 75% of the earth is covered in water, and it is reffered to as the most important Biochemical. Its chemical symbol is: H2O In a water molecule there are two bonding pairs and two non-bonding pairs of electrons. These four pairs of electrons repel one another, forming a tetrahedral pattern.
Each water molecule consists of one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms. The oxygen atom (or the apex of the water molecule) bears a slight electronegative charge while hydrogen possesses a more positive one. Because opposite charges attract, the water molecules are drawn together. When an oxygen atom is linked to a neighboring molecule's hydrogen atom, a bond called a hydrogen bond is formed. In an ice crystal the hydrogen bonds to give the shape of the crystal so that the grid of molecules surrounds relatively to large spaces. In a liquid form, water has no such spaces; so ice is less dense and will float on liquid water. If not for this, great bodies of water would freeze from the bottom up without the insulation of a top layer of ice and all life in the water would die.