Properties of Water

Cohesion: the tendency of molecules of the same kind to stick together

Adhesion: the tendency of two different kinds of molecules to stick together

• Capillary action: the ability to move something up a surface
• Ex: a straw in a glass of water has water slightly higher than the rest: the water rises using adhesion towards the straw, and the rest of the water rises using cohesion

Surface tension: a measure of how difficult it is to break the surface of a liquid

• Hydrogen bonds cause water to stay together

Moderate temperature

• Thermal energy: energy associated with the random movements of atoms and molecules
• Heat: transfer of thermal energy from hot → cold
• Temperature: measure of intensity of moving atoms
• A lot of heat needed to be absorbed for water to change temperature
• High heat capacity
• Raising temperatures → bonds must break to vibrate faster, despite high surface tension
• Lowering temperatures → bonds must break to evaporate, despite high surface tension

Major solvent

• Solvent: dissolving agent
• Solute: dissolved substance
• Solution: solvent + solution
• Aqueous solution: solution where the solvent is water
  • Charge of the water molecules breaks about other molecules, causing them to dissolve