From Clouds to Runoff : Water a

s Solvent
 Properties of Water: Melting &
Boiling Point

CH4 NH3 H2O HF

Melting Point (°C) -182 -78 0 -83
Boiling Point (°C) -164 -33 100 20

• Water have high melting and boiling temperature.

• In order to raise the temperature of water, the average molecular speed has to increase.

• It takes much more energy to raise the temperature of water compared to other
solvents because hydrogen bonds hold the water molecules together.

Chapter 10: Water Resources 2

 Properties of water : Hydrogen
Bonding

• An individual water molecule has a bent shape with a

H-O-H bond angle of approximately 105 degrees.
• Water is polar (have positive & negative charges)
negative charge build up on oxygen end while
positive charge build up on hydrogen end.

Chapter 10: Water Resources 3

 Properties of water: Density

• The density of liquid water reach maximum at 4°C.

• The lower density of ice relative to water is great ecological significance. The layer
of ice prevent many lakes from freezing solid, allow aquatic organism still alive
under the ice.

Chapter 10: Water Resources 4

 Clathrates & Water Miscibility
(1)
• The ability of water molecules to hydrogen-bond to another accounts for the
existence of crystalline clathrates.

• Clathrates are crystalline water-based solids physically resembling ice, in which

small non-polar molecules (typically gases) or polar molecules with large
hydrophobic moieties are trapped inside "cages" of hydrogen bonded, frozen water
molecules.

Chapter 10: Water Resources 5

 Clathrates & Water Miscibility (2)

• A hydrophobic describes the fact that nonpolar substances don't combine with
water molecules. thus, prefer other neutral molecules and nonpolar solvents.
Because water molecules are polar, hydrophobe do not dissolve well among them.
• A hydrophilic is a molecule or other molecular entity that is attracted to water
molecule and tend to be dissolves by water.

Chapter 10: Water Resources 6

 Autoionization & Neutralization

• The self-ionization of water  (autoionization) is an ionization reaction in pure

water or in an aqueous solution, in which a water molecule, H2O, deprotonates (loses
the nucleus of one of its hydrogen atoms) to become a hydroxide ion, OH−.

• Neutralization is a chemical reaction in which an acid and a base react

quantitatively with each other. In a reaction in water, neutralization results in there
being no excess of hydrogen or hydroxide ions present in the solution.

Chapter 10: Water Resources 7

 Weak Acid and Bases

• Weak acids and bases ionize only partially, and the ionization reaction is reversible.
• A conjugate acid, is a species formed by the reception of a proton (H+) by a base.
A conjugate base is what is left over after an acid has donated a proton during a
chemical reaction. 

Chapter 10: Water Resources 8

 Buffers

• One use of conjugate acids and bases lies in buffering systems.

• A buffer is simply a mixture of a weak acid and its conjugate base or a weak base and
its conjugate acid. Buffers work by reacting with any added acid or base to control
the pH. 
• Lakes that have a limestone bed have a natural buffering ability to neutralize acid
rain.

Chapter 10: Water Resources 9

 Water in Atmosphere : Acid Rain

• Acid Rain refers to the deposition of acidic

components in either wet or dry forms.
• Natural acid rain can be caused by volcanic
emissions and biological processes.
• Human emissions of sulfur dioxide and
nitrogen oxides contribute to the
acidification of rain.
• Burning coal cause releasing sulfur dioxide
which becomes sulfuric acid in the
atmosphere.

Chapter 10: Water Resources 10

 Water in Atmosphere : Acid Rain

• Low pH and high aluminum concentrations can damage or kill fish and aquatic
populations.
• Soils can be damaged by the hydronium ion, which mobilizes aluminum and
encourages leaching of minerals such as magnesium essential for plant life.
• Forests suffer from soil damage
• Building made of limestone and marble will react with acid rain.
• Increases the oxidation rate of metals such as copper and bronze.

Chapter 10: Water Resources 11

 Important Properties of water

• Excellent solvent for salts, acids, bases, and substances that have H, O, and N atoms
capable of forming hydrogen bonds.
• Solvent in biological fluids, such as blood or urine.

• Water weathers minerals and transports dissolved minerals in the geosphere.

• Transports nutrients to plant roots in soil.

• Transparent to visible light enabling photosynthesis to occur in algae.

• Maximum density as a liquid at 4˚C causing bodies of water to become stratified

with colder, denser layers on the bottom.

Chapter 10: Water Resources 12