preview

Saltwater Experiment

Good Essays

Fresh water is less dense than salt water, which causes fresh water to accumulate on the top surface of the salt water. In the brine experiment, I concluded that freshwater has a density of 1.0 g/ml and salt water has a density of 1.025g/ml. After removing the cups of salt water and freshwater from the freezer it was evident that the freshwater was frozen throughout, however the salt water had a layer of water below the freezing fresh water.
Salt water freezes at a lower temperature than fresh water. As fresh water freezes, it forces the salt out. When seawater freezes, the salt is forced out of the ice in a process called "brine exclusion". Therefore, sea ice is essentially fresh water (Worster, 1992). The removed salt increases the salinity …show more content…

Water is a covalent bond with one, negative charged, oxygen and two, positive charged, hydrogens. Water molecules, H20, are attracted to other water molecules forming a hydrogen bond. Since water is a polar molecule, it has a positive to negative attraction, meaning that the oxygen bonds with other hydrogen from different water molecules. As water freezes the oxygen molecules attract to hydrogen molecules and the hydrogen will begin to crystallize causing the water molecules to move farther apart. This is why ice is less dense than …show more content…

Dense, cooler, and usually nutrient-rich water moves towards the ocean surface, replacing the warmer, usually nutrient-depleted surface water (Vizcarra, 2015). Changes in the force and direction of ocean currents will affect the availability of nutrients. The top layer of the ocean collects the warmth and energy of sunlight, while the bottom layers collect the rich, nutrient-filled sediment of decayed plant and animal matter (Vizcarra, 2015). These nutrients are carried by the conveyor belt to other ocean regions and supply nutrient rich materials to areas that would have low amounts of nutrients if the thermohaline circulation didn’t exist. Ocean life is dependent on these nutrients for sustainment. It would lead to an imbalance or even destruction of certain food chains. Before sinking, the water absorbs enormous amounts of gases such as carbon dioxide at the ocean surface, and then transports them to greater depths (Vizcarra, 2015). Marine plants use dissolved carbon dioxide, sunlight, and water to make carbohydrates through the process of photosynthesis. This process releases oxygen into the water. All marine organisms use oxygen for respiration. If thermohaline circulation is changed it will affect the amount of these gases that are available and essential for the survival of marine

Get Access