Saturation of liquids and salinity [Chemistry]

[cure-e-aw-sit-e]

Now this is not for school but only a random question that I thought up, so since the saturation of a liquid and how much solvent a solute can hold is determined by temperature and the type of liquid, how is a water able to retain so much salt? Since salt water is not exactly warm and it is just water with salt mixed in.. How can it absorb so much? Not only that Lake Hillier in Austrailia is 10x saltier than the ocean and is the same temperature as the ocean. Now I'm probably missing something since I took Chemistry ages ago and I forgot all the specifications and terminology and such but does anyone know why it is able to absorb and bond with so much salt without changing temperature?

[Zandy]

Well the amount of a substance that can dissolve in water is largely inpart with the size of the solute and the polarity of the solute (determined by electronegativity). When NaCl is mixed with water, a portion of the NaCl disassociates into both Na+ and Cl- ions. These ions then become saturated with the H3O+ and OH- ions from water (or you can acknowledge them as H+ and OH- ions). These ions surround the Na+ and Cl- ions. Na+ is attracted to being surrounded by the negative ions (anions) while Cl is attracted to being surrounded by positive ions (cations). Because NaCl is polar when mixed with water, this happens relatively easy. And because the ions are very simple and small, you have a larger surface area for dissolution to occur. I hope that helps smile !

At a point though, the solution of NaCl and H2O will become supersaturated in accordance to the temperature, and no more NaCl can be dissolved into it due to the equilibria reached between the formation of ions from H2O and the formation of ions from NaCl. At greater temperatures, this equilibria is shifted to be able to dissolve more NaCl (plus more energy is provided to split these compounds into their ions). However, precipitate will form if the temperature is lowered once again.

Though with your main question, even though salt water is not super warm, I believe that the amount of salt it has is less than the supersaturated point of pure water, so precipitate doesn't form. However, I am not entirely sure if those places are supersaturated with NaCl. If it is though, the precipitate formed will sink to the ocean floor. Also, there are probably a lot of polar impurities in the water aiding in NaCl dissolution, plus I'm sure a lot of organisms rely on high water salinity for survival, and hence, use the NaCl for various purposes.

Once again, water does have it's limit to how much NaCl is can dissolve per volume of water and temperature. Those places likely haven't reached that limit yet ^^.

[cure-e-aw-sit-e]

Zandykins

Well the amount of a substance that can dissolve in water is largely inpart with the size of the solute and the polarity of the solute (determined by electronegativity). When NaCl is mixed with water, a portion of the NaCl disassociates into both Na+ and Cl- ions. These ions then become saturated with the H3O+ and OH- ions from water (or you can acknowledge them as H+ and OH- ions). These ions surround the Na+ and Cl- ions. Na+ is attracted to being surrounded by the negative ions (anions) while Cl is attracted to being surrounded by positive ions (cations). Because NaCl is polar when mixed with water, this happens relatively easy. And because the ions are very simple and small, you have a larger surface area for dissolution to occur. I hope that helps smile !

At a point though, the solution of NaCl and H2O will become supersaturated in accordance to the temperature, and no more NaCl can be dissolved into it due to the equilibria reached between the formation of ions from H2O and the formation of ions from NaCl. At greater temperatures, this equilibria is shifted to be able to dissolve more NaCl (plus more energy is provided to split these compounds into their ions). However, precipitate will form if the temperature is lowered once again.

Though with your main question, even though salt water is not super warm, I believe that the amount of salt it has is less than the supersaturated point of pure water, so precipitate doesn't form. However, I am not entirely sure if those places are supersaturated with NaCl. If it is though, the precipitate formed will sink to the ocean floor. Also, there are probably a lot of polar impurities in the water aiding in NaCl dissolution, plus I'm sure a lot of organisms rely on high water salinity for survival, and hence, use the NaCl for various purposes.

Once again, water does have it's limit to how much NaCl is can dissolve per volume of water and temperature. Those places likely haven't reached that limit yet ^^.

Thank you so much! That really helped :3. Yeh, it's been ages since I last took Chemistry so my knowledge is bleh, luckily I'm taking it in College for my Pre-Med requirements so mah knowledge will be better. ^.^

[Zandy]

BoomerangDick

Zandykins

Well the amount of a substance that can dissolve in water is largely inpart with the size of the solute and the polarity of the solute (determined by electronegativity). When NaCl is mixed with water, a portion of the NaCl disassociates into both Na+ and Cl- ions. These ions then become saturated with the H3O+ and OH- ions from water (or you can acknowledge them as H+ and OH- ions). These ions surround the Na+ and Cl- ions. Na+ is attracted to being surrounded by the negative ions (anions) while Cl is attracted to being surrounded by positive ions (cations). Because NaCl is polar when mixed with water, this happens relatively easy. And because the ions are very simple and small, you have a larger surface area for dissolution to occur. I hope that helps smile !

At a point though, the solution of NaCl and H2O will become supersaturated in accordance to the temperature, and no more NaCl can be dissolved into it due to the equilibria reached between the formation of ions from H2O and the formation of ions from NaCl. At greater temperatures, this equilibria is shifted to be able to dissolve more NaCl (plus more energy is provided to split these compounds into their ions). However, precipitate will form if the temperature is lowered once again.

Though with your main question, even though salt water is not super warm, I believe that the amount of salt it has is less than the supersaturated point of pure water, so precipitate doesn't form. However, I am not entirely sure if those places are supersaturated with NaCl. If it is though, the precipitate formed will sink to the ocean floor. Also, there are probably a lot of polar impurities in the water aiding in NaCl dissolution, plus I'm sure a lot of organisms rely on high water salinity for survival, and hence, use the NaCl for various purposes.

Once again, water does have it's limit to how much NaCl is can dissolve per volume of water and temperature. Those places likely haven't reached that limit yet ^^.

Thank you so much! That really helped :3. Yeh, it's been ages since I last took Chemistry so my knowledge is bleh, luckily I'm taking it in College for my Pre-Med requirements so mah knowledge will be better. ^.^

Glad I could help 3nodding ! Good luck with your Chemistry course for Pre-Med smile !