Chemical properties of water:
- Light Absorption: How much light a certain amount of water can absorb (important for aquatic plants)
- pH: it has a scale from 1 to 14 which shows whether a substance is acid(pH 1-6), neutral (pH 7) or basic (pH 8-14)
- Alkalinity: How well water can neutralize an acid or a base, with the pH of water still 7.
- Solvent: Water is named the universal solvent because it dissolves more substances than any other liquid, always carrying minerals and nutrients within.
More interesting water facts!
Why are all substances not water-soluble?
Polarity makes a substance water-soluble. A polar substance has two kinds of poles, like a magnet. Another polar substance will dissolve in water. Substances with no poles are called a polar and do not dissolve in water. It will float on top of water, like ice, because its density is smaller. Another example, you are right, OIL. Oil is less dense than water and made up of HYDROPHOBIC (fear of water) molecules.
How much does water weigh?
- Its weight is determined by the atomic mass of Hydrogen and Oxygen
- Hydrogen has an atomic mass of 1g/mol and oxygen has an atomic mass of 16g/mol
- mol is a symbol for the Unit Mole and means the quantity (how much) of a substance