Properties of Water

Water is a polar, discrete molecular compound.

Properties of water:
o high latent heat of fusion the amount of energy needed to change a fixed
amount of water from the solid to the liquid state.
Symbol: l
Units: kJ/mol, J/kg
Water: 6.02kJ/mol
o high latent heat of vaporisation the amount of energy needed to change a
fixed mass of water from the liquid to the gaseous state.
Water: 40.7 kJ/mol, i.e. 40.7kJ of energy must be supplied to vaporise one
mole of water
o high specific heat capacity the amount of energy needed to raise the
temperature of one gram of water by 1 C.
formula:
Q = mcT
Q: energy required (in J)
m: grams of substance
c: specific heat capacity
T: number of degrees

e.g.
o melting point (of 0 C) and a boiling point (of 100 C).
o Density: a measure of the amount of mass that is contained in a certain volume of
that substance
Formula:
d = m/v
d = density (g/cm3, kg/m3)
m = mass (g, kg)
v = volume (cm3, m3)

Water has a higher density when it is in liquid form than solid. That is, liquid
water is denser than ice. Thats why ice floats, and why water underneath ice
caps are insulated from the cold b the ice.
 o non-conductor of electricity when pure. Impure water, however, can be an
excellent conductor due to the presence of dissolved substances (i.e. ions)
the values of the above properties are higher than for other substances of
similar molecular size due to waters strong intermolecular forces
especially hydrogen bonding. A hydrogen bond is formed only when the
atoms making up the molecule consist of hydrogen bonded to oxygen, fluorine
or nitrogen, which can attract each other very closely.

Strong hydrogen bonds of water molecules

o water is an excellent solvent for many ionic and polar substances, due to its
polarity and ability to form hydrogen bonds.

waters strong hydrogen bonds also explain why it has relatively high
melting and boiling points, relatively high latent heat values for fusion and
evaporation, and the relatively high specific heat capacity of liquid water.

This is why water expands when it freezes, i.e. why liquid water is denser
than ice.

Water as a solvent
o Water is attracted to ions and polar substances, due to its own polar nature.
If these attractions are strong enough to overcome the attractions between the
molecules or ions of the other substance, that substance dissolves (the like
dissolves like rule).
o Any salts that contain any of the ions Na+, K+, NH4+ and NO3 are soluble.
o Polar gases such as ammonia dissolve readily in water.
o Non-polar gases such as oxygen and nitrogen have low solubility, but enough to
sustain aquatic life.

An increase in pressure generally increases the solubility of a gas in liquids.

An increase in temperature generally decreases the solubility of gases in liquids.
Precipitation Reactions
Dissociation: the process by which particles in the solid state are pulled apart by
water and become able to move around. This results in the solid dissolving and a
solution being formed.
Precipitation reactions occur when solutions of soluble substances are mixed and an
insoluble substance is formed.
An ionic equation is one that shows only the ions that are formed or changed during a
chemical reaction. Those that do not react are known as spectator ions and are not
shown. Ionic equations are particularly useful for summarising precipitation reactions.