C3.2 Quantitative analysis Flashcards
Why does water passing through and over rock form solutions?
The water dissolves some of the compounds(minerals) found within the rock
What makes water hard?
Minerals containing calcium or magnesium ions
What is the concentration of a solution?
The amount of solute dissolved within a stated volume of that solution
What are the units for concentration commonly written as?
Grams per decimetre cubed
g dm^-3
What is 1dm^3 equal to in litres and centimetres?
1 litre or 1000cm^3
How do you calculate the concentration of a solution in g dm^-3 ?
concentration = amount of solute in g /
volume of solution in dm^-3
What is a problem of using soap with hard water?
It’s hard to make a lather
Why is it hard to make a lather using soap and hard water?
The calcium and magnesium ions combine with the soap to make an insoluble precipitate, which forms scum on the surface of the water. All the calcium and magnesium ions in the water must react as scum before the soap can form a lather, so the harder the water the more magnesium and calcium ions it has and so the more soap you need to precipitate all the ions into scum
What are the problems caused by using soap with hard water?
- soap is wasted
- soap scum has to be removed from water treatment works
What is soap scum?
The insoluble precipitate formed from calcium and magnesium ions and soap
How can you compare the hardness of water?
By seeing how much of a soap solution is needed to form a lather
What are the problems caused by limescale?
It can waste energy and block pipes
Where can limescale be found?
Central heating boilers, washing machines, kettles and dishwashers
What is limescale?
An insoluble compound made from the decomposition of calcium and magnesium compounds found in hard water
How do you get limescale?
By boiling hard water (e.g tap water)
What is temporary hardness?
When mineral salts in water can be removed by boiling it
Why does heating soften hard water?
Heating forms limescale, removing the soluble calcium and magnesium ions from water and therefore making it soft
What is permanent hardness?
When water doesn’t lose its hardness when heated, because the calcium and magnesium ions don’t decompose
What happens when you try to lather soap with boiled water with a temporary hardness?
The soap with lather easily
What does softening water mean?
Removing hardness from water
How can you soften permanent hard water?
By using an ion exchange column
What is a way of removing hardness from temporary hard water but not permanently hard water?
Boiling it
What is an ion exchange column?
A column packed with tiny plastic beads made of a special resin
What is weakly attached to the resin in an ion exchange column?
Positively charged sodium ions
How does an ion exchange column work?
Hard water passes through the column and positively charged calcium and magnesium ions swap places with positively charged sodium ions weakly attached to the resin balls. This means that the sodium ions replace the calcium and magnesium ions within the water and so it is now soft
When does an ion exchange column stop working?
When all the sodium ions in the column have been exchanged for calcium and magnesium ions
How can you reuse the ion exchange column when it no longer works?
You pass brine through the column so that it flushes out calcium and magnesium ions and replaces them with sodium ions
What is brine?
Concentrated sodium chloride solution
What is a solution made up of?
A solute and a solvent
What happens when a solvent evaporates from a solution?
Only the solute is left
How can you measure the concentration of a solution?
By measuring the mass of solute left when all the solvent from a known amount of solution has been evaporated