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The Earths water

It is estimated that there are 1,380 million km 3 of water on
the Earth.
However, only 3% of the Earths water is fresh. The remaining
97% is saltwater, and forms the seas and oceans.

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The water cycle

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Events in the water cycle

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Why is water so important?

Water is extremely important to life on Earth and is also used
by humans in a wide range of activities.

transport

coolants

solvents

washing

fishing

leisure

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How is water treated?

Water for our homes is treated to make it safe for drinking by
the following system:
chemicals added which
combine with dirt to
water from reservoir
form a precipitate
settlement tank
chlorine added

filter beds

supplied to
homes, offices
and factories
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Stages in water treatment

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What is desalination?
In some countries, there is not enough rainwater to collect in
reservoirs. Instead, the process of desalination is used to
make freshwater from seawater.
The simplest
method of
desalination is
to distil the
water, leaving
the salt behind.
Can you think of any advantages and disadvantages
of desalination?
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Why is fluoride added to water?

In some countries, fluoride is added to drinking water in the
form of hexafluorosilicic acid (H2SiF6). In the UK, about 10%
of homes receive water with added fluoride.
Fluoride has been proven to strengthen tooth enamel, which
helps to prevent tooth decay.
Fluoride occurs naturally in some water supplies,
and is also naturally present in tea.
Most toothpastes also
contain added fluoride.
Scientists first made a link between fluoride and teeth in
the 1930s. What evidence do you think they looked at?
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Should fluoride be added to our water?

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Voting: fluoride in drinking water

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Dissolving words
There are many words to do with solubility make sure you
dont confuse them!
solute

solution

solvent
dissolving

Can you fill in the missing words in the sentences below?

If a substance CAN be dissolved it is called __________.
If a substance CANNOT be dissolved it is called __________.
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What is solubility?
Solubility is defined as:
the amount of a substance that will dissolve in
1 dm3 of water at 25C (1 dm3 = 1000 cm3 = 1 litre)
For example, the solubility of sodium chloride is 360 g/dm3.
Q1) What would happen if you added more than 360 g of
sodium chloride to 1 dm3 of water?
Q2) What mass of sodium chloride would dissolve in 2 dm3
of water at 25 C?
Q3) What mass of sodium chloride would dissolve in 500 cm3
of water at 25 C?
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Investigating solubility
An experiment was carried out to determine the solubility of a
number of solid chlorides. Here are the results:
chloride
CuCl2

volume of
water
200 cm3

mass of chloride
that dissolved
151 g

MgCl2

150 cm3

80 g

KCl

100 cm3

30 g

NaCl

200 cm3

72 g

ZnCl2

150 cm3

618 g

How can you use the results to calculate the solubility in g/dm 3
of each solid?
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Calculating solubility

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Which chloride is the most soluble?

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Solubility and temperature

The solubility of a substance depends on the temperature of
the solvent. This table summarises the effect of temperature
on the solubility of four different solids:
temperature
0 C
solid:

20 C 40 C 60 C
solubility (g/dm3)

80 C

potassium chloride

280

342

401

458

513

sodium chloride

357

359

364

371

380

sodium nitrate

730

876

1020

1220

1480

potassium nitrate

139

316

613

1060

1670

How would you carry out this experiment?

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Solubility and temperature graph

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Saturation and crystallization

Solutions become supersaturated when they contain more
solute than they would normally be able to dissolve.
This can happen when a saturated
solution is cooled, or another
change in conditions occurs that
causes solubility to decrease.
The solute will stay in solution
until a seed crystal is added.
This causes it to crystallize out of
the solution very quickly.
When it does this, it gives out
heat energy.
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Solubility of gases
Many gases are soluble
in water. For example,
fish can breathe
because of the oxygen
dissolved in water.
Fizzy drinks contain
carbon dioxide that has
been dissolved into
them under pressure.
When the pressure inside the container is released, the
carbon dioxide gas comes out of the solution, producing
fizzy bubbles.
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Solubility of gases and temperature

What happens to the solubility of gases as the temperature
increases?
temperature
0 C
gas:

20 C
50 C
solubility (g/dm3)

nitrogen

0.029

0.019

0.012

oxygen

0.069

0.043

0.027

carbon dioxide

3.35

1.69

0.76

If you leave a glass of lemonade for a few days, it goes flat.

If you left one glass of lemonade in the fridge and another
beside the radiator, which is likely to go flat first?
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Solubility of oxygen
As the temperature of water increases, the solubility of
oxygen decreases.
This can be a problem for fish living
in rivers near factories.
In industry, water is often used to
keep machinery cool. This produces
warm waste water which then flows
out into nearby rivers.
Although the water is clean, it can
still affect aquatic animals. The warm
water contains less of the dissolved
oxygen that fish need to breathe.
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Solubility of oxygen
A team of scientists investigated the temperature and levels
of dissolved oxygen at different points along a river.
Upstream of the factory: The
water is cool and clean, with lots
of dissolved oxygen, and plenty
of small invertebrates and fish.
Downstream of the factory: The
water is clean, but warm. We
found a few dead fish in the river.
What can be done by the factory owners to solve the problem?
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Carbon dioxide and the ocean

Carbon dioxide is very soluble in water, and scientists believe
that about a third of the carbon dioxide produced by burning
fossil fuels dissolves into the oceans.
CO2

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sedimentation

circulation

carbonate

organic carbon

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Solubility of carbon dioxide

CO2 is a greenhouse gas.
Some scientists have suggested
that the oceans could act as a
carbon dioxide reservoir to
remove it from the atmosphere.
The gas could be pumped down
to the bottom of the ocean and
stored there.
However, if global warming
continues and the oceans get
warmer, what will happen to
the amount of carbon dioxide
dissolved in the oceans?
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Solubility: true or false?

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What is hard water?

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Using hard and soft water

Soft water forms a lather easily with soap.
Hard water needs more
soap to form a lather,
adding additional cost to
cleaning processes.
This is because
dissolved chemicals in
the hard water react with
soap to form a scum.
How could you test water
samples to see if they are
hard or soft?
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What is hard water?

Hard water contains dissolved calcium and magnesium
compounds such as:
magnesium hydrogen carbonate [Mg(HCO3)2]
calcium hydrogen carbonate [Ca(HCO3)2]
magnesium sulfate [MgSO4]
calcium sulfate [CaSO4]
Hard water can be temporary or permanent.
Temporary hard water contains magnesium hydrogen
carbonate and calcium hydrogen carbonate.
Permanent hard water contains magnesium sulfate and
calcium sulfate.
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Hard water chemicals

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Hard water and soap

Rainwater becomes slightly acidic as carbon dioxide from
the air dissolves in it, forming carbonic acid.
Limestone contains calcium carbonate. As the slightly acidic
rainwater trickles through rocks, the calcium carbonate
reacts to form soluble calcium hydrogen carbonate:
carbonic
acid

calcium
carbon
calcium hydrogen

+
+ water
carbonate
dioxide
carbonate

H2CO3 (aq) + CaCO3 (s)

Ca(HCO3)2 (aq)

+ CO2 (g) + H2O (l)

One of the chemicals in soap is sodium stearate.

The dissolved calcium and magnesium compounds in hard
water react with sodium stearate to form a solid called
calcium stearate (or scum).
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How does hard water react with soap?

Soap scum is formed by the reaction:
sodium
stearate

calcium
hydrogen
carbonate

calcium
stearate

sodium
hydrogen
carbonate

2C17H35COONa (s) + Ca(HCO3)2 (aq) (C17H35COO)2Ca (s) + 2NaHCO3 (aq)

The soap will only form a lather when all the dissolved
calcium hydrogen carbonate in the water has reacted.
Using hard water can cause problems:
More soap is needed to get a lather.
It can be difficult to clean the scum from bathtubs and sinks.
Hard water can be unsuitable for industrial processes
like dying.
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Limescale
When hard water is heated, the dissolved calcium hydrogen
carbonate decomposes to form solid calcium carbonate.
These deposits of calcium carbonate are called limescale.
calcium hydrogen
carbonate

calcium
carbonate

water

CaCO3 (s)

H2O (l) +

Ca(HCO3)2 (aq)

carbon dioxide
CO2 (g)

Limescale can block pipes and coat

the heating elements in kettles,
washing machines and heaters.
Limescale is a poor heat conductor, and
reduces the efficiency of appliances.
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Removing limescale
Weak acids, such as ethanoic
acid, can be used as descalers.
The acid reacts with the limescale
to form soluble compounds,
which are then washed away.
ethanoic
+
acid

calcium

carbonate

calcium
ethanoate

carbon
+ water
dioxide

2CH3COOH (aq) + CaCO3 (s) (CH3COO)2Ca (aq) + CO2 (g) + H2O (l)

What would a person observing this reaction see?

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What are the benefits of hard water?

Hard water can be good for health:
calcium is needed for healthy
bones and teeth
magnesium is needed for effective
metabolism.
Some studies have also shown that
people living in hard water areas are
less likely to suffer from heart disease.
The World Health Organisation states that there is not yet
enough evidence to confirm a link between hard water and
heart disease.
What evidence would you gather to look for a link between
hard water and heart disease?
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Softening temporary hard water

Temporary hard water contains calcium hydrogen carbonate.
This is relatively easy to remove, because it decomposes on
heating to form solid calcium carbonate:
calcium hydrogen
carbonate

calcium
carbonate

water

CaCO3 (s)

H2O (l) +

Ca(HCO3)2 (aq)

carbon dioxide
CO2 (g)

Knowing this, how would you remove the solid calcium

carbonate from the water?
What would be left behind after removing temporary
hardness using this method?
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Softening hard water

Both temporary and permanent hard water can be softened
by adding sodium carbonate (washing soda).
The sodium carbonate reacts with the calcium compounds in
the water to form calcium carbonate and soluble sodium
compounds, which do not contribute to hardness:
calcium
hydrogen
carbonate

sodium
carbonate

Ca(HCO3)2 (aq) +

Na2CO3 (s)

sodium
hydrogen
carbonate

calcium
carbonate

CaCO3 (s)

+ 2NaHCO3 (aq)

What is the word and symbol equation for the reaction

between calcium sulfate (which causes permanent
hardness) and sodium carbonate?
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Softening hard water

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Hard water: summary

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What is soap?
If oil is added to water, the two liquids do not mix.
Because of this, grease stains can be difficult to remove
during washing.
Soaps are compounds
which act as emulsifiers.

soap molecule

water

This means that they

help the oil to mix
with the water.

oil
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How do soaps work?

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How are soaps made?

Soaps are usually made from vegetable fats and oils.
These consist of 3 fatty acid chains, held together by a
glycerol molecule.

The reaction used to make soap from fats and oils is

called saponification.
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How are soaps made?

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What are soapless detergents?

Soapless detergents can be made from crude oil, rather than
vegetable oils or animal fats.
Soapless detergents are still made of long, hydrophobic
carbon chains, but the hydrophilic end of the molecule is a
sulfonate:

sodium octadecylsulfonate

hydrophobic end interacts

with oil molecules

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hydrophilic end interacts

with water molecules

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Soaps vs. soapless detergents

What are the advantages and disadvantages of soapless
detergents over soaps?
Soaps form a scum with hard water, meaning that it is
more difficult to produce a lather. Soapless detergents
react with the substances in hard water to form soluble
compounds, and so do not form a scum.
Soapless detergents can be made from the by-products
of the oil refining process, so can be cheaper to produce
than soaps.
Some soapless detergents are not biodegradable.
This means that they stay in the water system causing
froth in rivers and streams.
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Biological and non-biological detergents

Biological detergents
are soapless
detergents that
contain enzymes.
The enzymes
are used to break
down chemicals,
e.g. in stains on
clothes.
Non-biological detergents do not contain enzymes, but just
rely on the action of the detergent to remove grease and
stains from items.

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Advantage or disadvantage?

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Glossary

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Anagrams

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Multiple-choice quiz

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