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Chapter 11: Problem 89

Explain how water's phase diagram differs from those of most substances. What property of water causes the difference?

Short Answer

Expert verified
Water's phase diagram differs in that instead of moving from a gas to a liquid to a solid as pressure increases, it moves from gas to liquid and then back to a solid due to the unique property of hydrogen bonding. This causes ice to be less dense than liquid water, which is unusual compared to most substances.

Step by step solution

01

Understanding Phase Diagrams

A phase diagram represents the states of a substance under different conditions of temperature and pressure. For most substances, as pressure increases, they tend to transform from a gas to a liquid to a solid. However, water exhibits unique behavior.
02

Explaining the Phase Diagram of Water

In a phase diagram for water, as pressure increases, instead of moving from gas to liquid to solid, it moves from gas to liquid and then, at certain conditions, it moves from liquid to solid as pressure is further increased. This is because solid water (ice) is less dense than liquid water, which is an unusual property.
03

Identifying the Unique Property

Water’s unique behavior in its phase diagram is due to hydrogen bonding between its molecules. These bonds cause the molecules in ice to be arranged in a larger, more spread out pattern than in liquid water. Hence, ice is less dense and floats on water. As pressure increases, ice is forced to become more compact and eventually turns into water.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Provide an explanation for each of the following phenomena: (a) Solid argon (m.p. \(-189.2^{\circ} \mathrm{C} ;\) b.p. \(-185.7^{\circ} \mathrm{C}\) ) can be prepared by immersing a flask containing argon gas in liquid nitrogen (b.p. \(-195.8^{\circ} \mathrm{C}\) ) until it liquefies and then connecting the flask to a vacuum pump. (b) The melting point of cyclohexane \(\left(\mathrm{C}_{6} \mathrm{H}_{12}\right)\) increases with increasing pressure exerted on the solid cyclohexane. (c) Certain high-altitude clouds contain water droplets at \(-10^{\circ} \mathrm{C}\). (d) When a piece of dry ice is added to a beaker of water, fog forms above the water.

A student is given four solid samples labeled \(W, X, Y\), and \(Z\). All except \(Z\) have a metallic luster. She is told that the solids could be gold, lead sulfide, quartz \(\left(\mathrm{SiO}_{2}\right),\) and iodine. The results of her investigations are as follows: (a) \(\mathrm{W}\) is a good electrical conductor; \(\mathrm{X}\), \(\mathrm{Y},\) and \(\mathrm{Z}\) are poor electrical conductors. (b) When the solids are hit with a hammer, W flattens out, X shatters into many pieces, \(Y\) is smashed into a powder, and \(Z\) is cracked. (c) When the solids are heated with a Bunsen burner, Y melts with some sublimation, but \(\mathrm{X}, \mathrm{W},\) and \(\mathrm{Z}\) do not melt. (d) In treatment with \(6 \mathrm{M}\) \(\mathrm{HNO}_{3}, \mathrm{X}\) dissolves; there is no effect on \(\mathrm{W}, \mathrm{Y},\) or \(\mathrm{Z}\) On the basis of these test results, identify the solids.

At \(-35^{\circ} \mathrm{C}\), liquid \(\mathrm{HI}\) has a higher vapor pressure than liquid HF. Explain.

If water were a linear molecule, (a) would it still be polar, and (b) would the water molecules still be able to form hydrogen bonds with one another?

Why does the viscosity of a liquid decrease with increasing temperature?
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