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Compare the state, percentage and distribution of water in the biosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere
and atmosphere
Sphere of Earth Percentage State(s) Examples of Water in Sphere
of Water in of Water
Sphere in Sphere
Biosphere 70% Liquid Watermelon, transport medium for nutrients
Lithosphere 10% Solid Crystalline water, CuSO4, 5H20
Hydrosphere 75% Liquid Ocean, sea, lakes, ground water, rivers
Atmosphere 0-5% Gas Gaseous water, water vapour
Outline the significance of the different states of water on Earth in terms of water as:
o A constituent of cells and its role as both a solvent and a raw material in metabolism
o A habitat in which temperature extremes are less than nearby terrestrial habitats
o An agent of weather of rocks both as a liquid and solid
o A natural resource for humans and other organisms
The wide distribution and importance of water on Earth is a consequence of its molecular structure and
hydrogen bonding
Construct Lewis electron dot structures of water, ammonia and hydrogen sulphide to identify the
distribution of electrons
Compare the molecular structure of water, ammonia and hydrogen sulphide, the differences in their
molecular shapes and in their melting and boiling points
o Water (H20):
Since there are two lone pairs of electrons, arrangement of the electron pairs will be
tetrahedral, but arrangement of atoms is bent/V-shaped. It has a bond angle of
104.5 and is smaller than the tetrahedral angle because the repulsion due to the two
lone pairs is slightly greater than the repulsion due to the two bonding pairs
Molecular weight: 18
Melting point: 0
Boiling point: 100
o Ammonia (NH3):
Since the NH3 molecule has four electron pairs around the central atom, and one
pair is a lone pair, arrangement is tetrahedral, but arrangement of the atoms is
pyramidal with the nitrogen atom at the apex of the pyramid and the three
hydrogen atoms forming its base. The lone pair of electrons exerts a slightly stronger
repulsive force on the bonding pairs and so the H-N-H bond angle is slightly less than
the tetrahedral angle, being about 170.
Molecular weight: 17
Melting point: -78
Boiling point: -33
o Hydrogen sulphide (H2S):
Since there are two lone pairs of electrons, arrangement of the electron pairs will be
tetrahedral, but arrangement of atoms is bent/V-shaped. It has a bond angle of
104.5 and is smaller than the tetrahedral angle because the repulsion due to the two
lone pairs is slightly greater than the repulsion due to the two bonding pairs
Molecular weight: 34
Melting point: -86
Boiling point: -60
The concentration of salts in water will vary according to their solubility, and precipitation can occur when
the ions of an insoluble salt are in solution together
Identify some combinations of solutions which will produce precipitates, using solubility data
o When solutions of different ionic compounds are mixed, they sometimes react to produce a
precipitate (insoluble solid)
o Eg. Silver nitrate(aq) + sodium chloride(aq) -> silver chloride(s) + sodium nitrate(aq)
Describe a model that traces the movement of ions when solution and precipitation occur
o M
Identify the dynamic nature of ion movement in a saturated dissolution
Describe the molarity of a solution as the number of moles of solute per litre of solution using
C=n/v
o Molarity is one type of measurement more molarity. The molarity of a solution is equal to
the number of moles of solute per litre of solution
Explain why different measurements of concentration are important
o The reason for so many different measurements of concentrations is simply for
convenience. In chem, it is usually best to measure in molL-1 (molarity) because this allows
easy conversions of mass, volumes of gases and volumes of solutions, when chemical
reactions are involved.
Compare the specific heat capacity of water with a range of other solvents
Water has a higher specific heat capacity (4.18 J/K/g) than most liquids such as ethanol (2.44 J/K/g),
acetone (2.17 J/K/g) and hexane (2.26 J/K/g). If 100g of the four solvents are placed in separate
beakers at room temp. and supplied with the same heat energy, the temp. of water temp. will
increase least. As temp. is a measure of kinetic energy of particles in a liquid, more heat energy is
required to increase the kinetic energy of water molecules than other liquids. This is consistent with
the strong hydrogen bonding between water molecules and the weaker intermolecular forces
between particles in the other liquids.
Explain how waters ability to absorb heat is used to measure energy changed in chemical reactions
o Calorimetry: technique used to measure the energy change occurring during chemical
processes. Calorimeter is an equipment used to make energy measurements
o Since many chemical processes occur in water, and because water has such a high specific
heat capacity (i.e. it can absorb lots of energy with little temperature change) calorimetry
often uses water as a medium to absorb heat energy
Explain what is meant by thermal pollution and discuss the implications for life if a body of water is
affected by thermal pollution
o Cold water is used to cool hot gases produced during combustion, which in turn heats the
coolant
o To reduce thermal pollution, heated water is cooled in special cooling towers before it is
returned to the ocean
o Warm water classified as thermal pollutant because it alters physical and chemical equilibria
in natural ecosystems
o Organisms that live in water rely on dissolved oxygen to survive. If the temp rises, amount
of oxygen dissolved decreases.
o Due to differences in density, poorly oxygenated warm water that is added to the surface of
a lake does not mix readily with deeper, cooler water. Hence, little oxygen is transported to
deeper water. Organisms that live on the lake floor can experience anoxic conditions due to
lack of dissolved oxygen.
o If warm water is released into a river rather than a lake, it becomes dispersed as the river
flows along its course, which can affect the aquatic population downstream for quite some
distance before the water cools sufficiently
o Levels of dissolved CO2 also decrease with temp. This significantly impacts on the
photosynthesis protists in aquatic ecosystems, which rely on dissolved CO2 for
photosynthesis. Drop in numbers of these producers affects other organisms higher in the
food chain
Choose resources and perform a first-hand investigation to measure the change in temperature
when substances dissolve in water and calculate the molar heat of solution
1. Measure 100 ml of water using a measuring cylinder
2. Place a polystyrene cup on the scale and click the tare button. Pour the 100 ml of water in the
cup and record the mass of the water
3. Place a magazine paper on the scale and pour approximately 3g of the unknown substance and
record the exact mass
4. Measure the initial temperature of the water using a thermometer
5. Pour the unknown substance in the cup of water and place the lid while stirring it with the
thermometer
6. Record the final temperature at its maximum value
7. Repeat the experiment for other substances
Process and present information from secondary sources to assess the limitations of calorimetry
experiments and design modifications to equipment used
o Calorimeter itself does not absorb a significant amount of heat energy of the reaction
This is minimised by using a foam cup which has an approximated heat capacity of
1.3 J/K/g
Copper, with a specific heat capacity of 0.385J/K/g is a better material to use
Calorimeters use materials with low heat capacities because they take very little
energy away from the solution when equilibrating its temperature with the solution
However, the foam cup is a better insulator, even though it absorbs more energy
than copper, it is able to prevent further heat loss or gain
o There is no heat loss or gained between the calorimeter and it surroundings. This source of
error can be minimised by good heat insulation of calorimeter
Use additional foam cup to reduce the amount of lost to surroundings in an
exothermic reaction
However, using an additional foam cup for endothermic reaction will not increase
the accuracy of a temperature measurement as heat gained from outside the cup is
extremely small
Discussion:
Reliability: experiment was not reliable as it was not repeated at least three times could not
achieve consistent results
Accuracy: poor, use a data probe instead of a thermometer to measure the temperature.
Temperature was only measured to the nearest 0.5 degree
Validity: relatively compromised because heat might have escaped from the cardboard lid,
measurement of temp to 0.5 degree. This could be improved by measuring mass of solute and
water to nearest 0.1 degree
Risk assessment: eye injury chemicals in eye and wear safety glasses