EXPERIMENT #5: WATER AND ITS PROPERTIES

A. EFFLORESCENCE AND DELIQUESCENCE

Efflorescence is the process by which a substance loses/releases water when exposed to the
atmosphere. Upon losing water, it becomes anhydrous.

The substance which undergoes efflorescence is an efflorescent substance.

• In the experiment, the efflorescent substance used was Glauber’s salt, Na2SO410H2O.

atmosphere
Na2SO410H2O(s) → Na2SO4(s) + 10H2O(g)
Upon exposure to the atmosphere, it released water becoming an anhydrous substance.

sodium sulfate pentahydrate anhydrous sodium sulfate

• An anhydrous substance is one which does not contain water.

Deliquescence is the process by which a substance absorbs moisture from the atmosphere
until it dissolves in the absorbed water and forms a solution.

The substance which undergoes deliquescence is a deliquescent substance.

• In the experiment, the deliquescent substance used was anhydrous calcium chloride,
CaCl2
atmosphere
CaCl2(s) + H2O(l) → CaCl2xH2O(aq)
Upon exposure to the atmosphere, it absorbed water forming a solution.

anhydrous calcium chloride calcium chloride solution

SILICA GEL it is used as a desiccant to control local humidity to avoid spoilage or

degradation of some and adsorbs moisture very well.

Silica gel is a granular, vitreous, porous form of silicon dioxide

made synthetically from sodium silicate.
B. DETECTION OF WATER IN A HYDRATE

• Nothing happens to blue vitriol, CuSO45H2O, when exposed to the atmosphere.

Upon heating, it will lose water and will turn white.

CuSO45H2O(s) + heat → CuSO4 (s) + 5H2O(g)

sky blue crystal white crystal

When water is added to heated blue vitriol, it will go

back to its original color as it gains water.

CuSO4 (s) + 5H2O(g) → CuSO45H2O(s)

white crystal sky blue crystal

C. USES OF WATER

• Water can be used as a solvent to dissolve the solid(solute) substances.

The solute is the substance that is being dissolved and the solvent is the substance
that does the dissolving.

When the mixture of barium chloride and potassium chromate is added with water,
both dissolves to form aqueous solutions. The aqueous solutions react to form a
yellow barium chromate precipitate and aqueous potassium chloride solution.

BaCl2(aq) + K2CrO4(aq) → BaCrO4(s) + 2KCl(aq)

egg yellow precipiate

Precipitation is the reaction between two solutions forming a solid substance called
a precipitate.
 • Water can be used to dilute a concentrated solution.

Concentrated nitric acid, HNO3(l), reacts with copper, Cu(s), to form cupric nitrate
solution, Cu(NO3)2, nitrogen dioxide gas, NO2(g), and water, H2O(l).

4 HNO3(l) + Cu(s) → Cu(NO3)2(aq) + 2 NO2(g) + 2 H2O(l)

blue green solution brown gas

When water is added to dilute the concentrated nitric acid and the resulting aqueous
solution is made to react with copper, cupric nitrate solution, Cu(NO3)2, nitrogen
monoxide gas, NO(g), and water, H2O(l) are formed as products.

HNO3(l) + H2O(l) → HNO3(aq)

concentrated dilute

8 HNO3(aq) +3 Cu(s) → 3 Cu(NO3)2(aq) + 2 NO(g) + 4 H2O(l)

blue solution yellow gas

D. HYDROLYSIS
– a chemical process of decomposition involving the splitting of a bond and the addition
of the hydrogen cation and the hydroxide anion of water.

clear yellow liquid brown acidic solution

At heating: 6 H2O(l) + 2 FeCl3(aq) → 2 Fe(OH)3(s) + 6 HCl(aq)

reddish brown precipitate

E. SURFACE TENSION
– the tension of the surface film of a liquid caused by the attraction of the particles in
the surface layer by the bulk of the liquid, which tends to minimize surface area.
– is the property of the surface of a liquid that allows it to resist an external force, due
to the cohesive nature of its molecules.
The cohesive forces between molecules in a liquid are shared with all neighboring molecules.

Sprinkled flour floats on top of the water because the surface tension is too high. When
detergent is added to the water, surface tension is lowered allowing the flour to mix with
water.

Examples:
• Walking on water: Small insects such as the water strider can walk on water because
their weight is not enough to penetrate the surface.
• Floating a needle: A carefully placed small needle can be
made to float on the surface of water even though it is
several times as dense as water. If the surface is agitated to
break up the surface tension, then needle will quickly sink.
• Don't touch the tent!: Common tent materials are
somewhat rainproof in that the surface tension of water will
bridge the pores in the finely woven material. But if you
touch the tent material with your finger, you break the
surface tension and the rain will drip through.
• Clinical test for jaundice: Normal urine has a surface
tension of about 66 dynes/centimeter but if bile is
present (a test for jaundice), it drops to about 55. In
the Hay test, powdered sulfur is sprinkled on the urine
surface. It will float on normal urine, but will sink if the
surface tension is lowered by the bile.
• Surface tension disinfectants: Disinfectants are usually solutions of low surface
tension. This allow them to spread out on the cell walls of bacteria and disrupt them.
• Soaps and detergents: These help the cleaning of clothes by lowering the surface
tension of the water so that it more readily soaks into pores and soiled areas.
• Washing with cold water: The major reason for using hot water for washing is that
its surface tension is lower and it is a better wetting agent. But if the detergent
lowers the surface tension, the heating may be unnecessary.
 • Why bubbles are round: The surface tension of water
provides the necessary wall tension for the formation of
bubbles with water. The tendency to minimize that wall
tension pulls the bubbles into spherical shapes.
• Surface Tension and Droplets: Surface tension is
responsible for the shape of liquid droplets. Although easily
deformed, droplets of water tend to be pulled into a spherical
shape by the cohesive forces of the surface layer.

F. DIFFUSION
− is the movement of a fluid from an area of higher concentration to an area of
lower concentration

− is the result of the kinetic properties of particles of matter

− is also thought of as the movement of particles down a concentration gradient

• In diffusion, particles mix until they are evenly distributed.

G. PURIFICATION OF WATER

• Turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by large numbers of

individual particles that are generally invisible to the naked eye.

• It is a measure of the amount of suspended sediment and visible particles in a

sample of water, or essentially, turbidity measures the cloudiness of the water.

clear water has low turbidity and water with high turbidity is more opaque
 • Water holds tiny suspended particles that are very difficult for a filter to catch.

• Alum solution, KAl(SO4)2, is added to turbid water to act as a coagulant or flocculant.

It causes the suspended particles to clump together so that they can settle out of the
water or be easily trapped by a filter.

• Alum solutions are used in water treatment processes to make turbid water clear and
particulate-free.

• A coagulant is a substance added in water to aggregate dissolved contaminants and

tiny particles into larger particles so that filtration, clarification, or any other solid
removal processes may be used to remove them.

• A flocculant is a substance that promotes the clumping of particles. It is especially

used in treating waste water so that the sedimentation or filterability of small
particles is improved.

1) Alum solution was added to the turbid water until it was basic and a precipitate
was formed. The basicity of the solution was determined using litmus paper.
Litmus paper is blue in a basic solution.

After filtration, the filtrate collected is a clear colorless water.

2) When hard water was added with soap solution, foam or soap suds are formed.

3) When hard water is added with lime water and then with soap solution, more
foam or soap suds are formed compared in 2.

H. DISTILLATION

− is a process of purifying a substance; or a miscible liquid with different boiling

temperature; or soluble mixture.

− is a process that involves: evaporation and condensation.

distillation set-up
− Examples:

• Purify a substance: producing distilled water

• Miscible liquid: alcohol and water

• Soluble mixture: salt & and water

improvised distillation set-up

I. HARDNESS IN WATER

• Hardness in water is due to the present of mineral salts of carbonate, bicarbonates,

chlorides & sulfates of Ca 2+, Mg 2+, Fe +3

No. of drops
Type of water Standard soap Detergent Observation
solution solution
Distilled water Least least Least no. of drops

Tap water More (hardest) more More

Boiled water moderate moderate moderate

• Heated tap water

Ca(HCO3)2 → CaCO3(s) + H2O + CO2

white deposits
• Types of Hardness in Water

1) Temporary hardness – is hardness due to the presence of bicarbonate, HCO3–1

& carbonate, CO3–2, of Ca2+, Mg2+, Fe+3 like calcium carbonate, magnesium
carbonate and ferric carbonate can be removed by boiling or distillation.

2) Permanent hardness – is hardness due to the presence of chlorides, Cl–1 and

sulfates, SO4 –2 of Ca2+, Mg2+, Fe+3 and can be removed by cation and anion
exchange.

• Soft water – is water which has undergone treatment so that minerals which
causes hardness are removed