Chemical composition of seawater
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Is it true that the sea water is composed of about $86%$ oxygen, $11%$ hydrogen and $3%$ of minerals? The chemical formula of water is $ce{H2O}$ (two hydrogen and one oxgen) that shows that the number of hydrogen is greater than that of oxygen.
If the number of hydrogen is greater, then why does the sea water consist of $11%$ hydrogen and $86%$ oxygen, which is lesser than the oxygen?
The book which I am reading says which is confusing me:
... Seawater is composed of about $86%$ oxygen, $11%$ hydrogen and $3%$ of minerals, consisting mainly of sodium and chlorine.
water elements
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Is it true that the sea water is composed of about $86%$ oxygen, $11%$ hydrogen and $3%$ of minerals? The chemical formula of water is $ce{H2O}$ (two hydrogen and one oxgen) that shows that the number of hydrogen is greater than that of oxygen.
If the number of hydrogen is greater, then why does the sea water consist of $11%$ hydrogen and $86%$ oxygen, which is lesser than the oxygen?
The book which I am reading says which is confusing me:
... Seawater is composed of about $86%$ oxygen, $11%$ hydrogen and $3%$ of minerals, consisting mainly of sodium and chlorine.
water elements
New contributor
add a comment |
up vote
1
down vote
favorite
up vote
1
down vote
favorite
Is it true that the sea water is composed of about $86%$ oxygen, $11%$ hydrogen and $3%$ of minerals? The chemical formula of water is $ce{H2O}$ (two hydrogen and one oxgen) that shows that the number of hydrogen is greater than that of oxygen.
If the number of hydrogen is greater, then why does the sea water consist of $11%$ hydrogen and $86%$ oxygen, which is lesser than the oxygen?
The book which I am reading says which is confusing me:
... Seawater is composed of about $86%$ oxygen, $11%$ hydrogen and $3%$ of minerals, consisting mainly of sodium and chlorine.
water elements
New contributor
Is it true that the sea water is composed of about $86%$ oxygen, $11%$ hydrogen and $3%$ of minerals? The chemical formula of water is $ce{H2O}$ (two hydrogen and one oxgen) that shows that the number of hydrogen is greater than that of oxygen.
If the number of hydrogen is greater, then why does the sea water consist of $11%$ hydrogen and $86%$ oxygen, which is lesser than the oxygen?
The book which I am reading says which is confusing me:
... Seawater is composed of about $86%$ oxygen, $11%$ hydrogen and $3%$ of minerals, consisting mainly of sodium and chlorine.
water elements
water elements
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edited 6 hours ago
andselisk
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Ahmed
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The book that you're reading is measuring by mass.
If you have pure water then you would expect oxygen to make up $frac{16}{16 + 2}times 100% approx 89 % $ by mass. Likewise, hydrogen would make up $frac{2}{16 + 2}times 100% approx 11 % $ by mass.
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As it has already been mentioned, these are mass percentages, which are a bit imprecise. For the reference, CRC handbook of chemistry and physics [1, p. 14-17] lists elements' abundances in seawater near the surface in $pu{mg L-1}$, alphabetically. I took 15 (starting with 16th element $omega < 10^{-4}~%$) most abundant elements from that array and calculated mass percentage for each:
begin{array}{llr}
hline
text{Element} & rho_i/pu{mg L-1} & omega/% \
hline
ce{O} & pu{8.57E5} & 85.8443 \
ce{H} & pu{1.08E5} & 10.8182 \
ce{Cl} & pu{1.94E4} & 1.9433 \
ce{Na} & pu{1.08E4} & 1.0818 \
ce{Mg} & pu{1.29E3} & 0.1292 \
ce{S} & pu{9.05E2} & 0.0907 \
ce{Ca} & pu{4.12E2} & 0.0413 \
ce{K} & pu{3.99E2} & 0.0400 \
ce{Br} & pu{6.73E1} & 0.0067 \
ce{C} & pu{2.80E1} & 0.0028 \
ce{Sr} & pu{7.9} & 0.0008 \
ce{B} & pu{4.44} & 0.0004 \
ce{Si} & pu{2.2} & 0.0002 \
ce{F} & pu{1.3} & 0.0001 \
ce{N} & pu{5.00E-1} & 0.0001 \
hline
end{array}
References
- Haynes, W. M.; Lide, D. R.; Bruno, T. J. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics: A Ready-Reference Book of Chemical and Physical Data.; 2017; Vol. 97.
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2 Answers
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2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
4
down vote
The book that you're reading is measuring by mass.
If you have pure water then you would expect oxygen to make up $frac{16}{16 + 2}times 100% approx 89 % $ by mass. Likewise, hydrogen would make up $frac{2}{16 + 2}times 100% approx 11 % $ by mass.
add a comment |
up vote
4
down vote
The book that you're reading is measuring by mass.
If you have pure water then you would expect oxygen to make up $frac{16}{16 + 2}times 100% approx 89 % $ by mass. Likewise, hydrogen would make up $frac{2}{16 + 2}times 100% approx 11 % $ by mass.
add a comment |
up vote
4
down vote
up vote
4
down vote
The book that you're reading is measuring by mass.
If you have pure water then you would expect oxygen to make up $frac{16}{16 + 2}times 100% approx 89 % $ by mass. Likewise, hydrogen would make up $frac{2}{16 + 2}times 100% approx 11 % $ by mass.
The book that you're reading is measuring by mass.
If you have pure water then you would expect oxygen to make up $frac{16}{16 + 2}times 100% approx 89 % $ by mass. Likewise, hydrogen would make up $frac{2}{16 + 2}times 100% approx 11 % $ by mass.
answered 8 hours ago
PJ R
65710
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up vote
3
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As it has already been mentioned, these are mass percentages, which are a bit imprecise. For the reference, CRC handbook of chemistry and physics [1, p. 14-17] lists elements' abundances in seawater near the surface in $pu{mg L-1}$, alphabetically. I took 15 (starting with 16th element $omega < 10^{-4}~%$) most abundant elements from that array and calculated mass percentage for each:
begin{array}{llr}
hline
text{Element} & rho_i/pu{mg L-1} & omega/% \
hline
ce{O} & pu{8.57E5} & 85.8443 \
ce{H} & pu{1.08E5} & 10.8182 \
ce{Cl} & pu{1.94E4} & 1.9433 \
ce{Na} & pu{1.08E4} & 1.0818 \
ce{Mg} & pu{1.29E3} & 0.1292 \
ce{S} & pu{9.05E2} & 0.0907 \
ce{Ca} & pu{4.12E2} & 0.0413 \
ce{K} & pu{3.99E2} & 0.0400 \
ce{Br} & pu{6.73E1} & 0.0067 \
ce{C} & pu{2.80E1} & 0.0028 \
ce{Sr} & pu{7.9} & 0.0008 \
ce{B} & pu{4.44} & 0.0004 \
ce{Si} & pu{2.2} & 0.0002 \
ce{F} & pu{1.3} & 0.0001 \
ce{N} & pu{5.00E-1} & 0.0001 \
hline
end{array}
References
- Haynes, W. M.; Lide, D. R.; Bruno, T. J. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics: A Ready-Reference Book of Chemical and Physical Data.; 2017; Vol. 97.
add a comment |
up vote
3
down vote
As it has already been mentioned, these are mass percentages, which are a bit imprecise. For the reference, CRC handbook of chemistry and physics [1, p. 14-17] lists elements' abundances in seawater near the surface in $pu{mg L-1}$, alphabetically. I took 15 (starting with 16th element $omega < 10^{-4}~%$) most abundant elements from that array and calculated mass percentage for each:
begin{array}{llr}
hline
text{Element} & rho_i/pu{mg L-1} & omega/% \
hline
ce{O} & pu{8.57E5} & 85.8443 \
ce{H} & pu{1.08E5} & 10.8182 \
ce{Cl} & pu{1.94E4} & 1.9433 \
ce{Na} & pu{1.08E4} & 1.0818 \
ce{Mg} & pu{1.29E3} & 0.1292 \
ce{S} & pu{9.05E2} & 0.0907 \
ce{Ca} & pu{4.12E2} & 0.0413 \
ce{K} & pu{3.99E2} & 0.0400 \
ce{Br} & pu{6.73E1} & 0.0067 \
ce{C} & pu{2.80E1} & 0.0028 \
ce{Sr} & pu{7.9} & 0.0008 \
ce{B} & pu{4.44} & 0.0004 \
ce{Si} & pu{2.2} & 0.0002 \
ce{F} & pu{1.3} & 0.0001 \
ce{N} & pu{5.00E-1} & 0.0001 \
hline
end{array}
References
- Haynes, W. M.; Lide, D. R.; Bruno, T. J. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics: A Ready-Reference Book of Chemical and Physical Data.; 2017; Vol. 97.
add a comment |
up vote
3
down vote
up vote
3
down vote
As it has already been mentioned, these are mass percentages, which are a bit imprecise. For the reference, CRC handbook of chemistry and physics [1, p. 14-17] lists elements' abundances in seawater near the surface in $pu{mg L-1}$, alphabetically. I took 15 (starting with 16th element $omega < 10^{-4}~%$) most abundant elements from that array and calculated mass percentage for each:
begin{array}{llr}
hline
text{Element} & rho_i/pu{mg L-1} & omega/% \
hline
ce{O} & pu{8.57E5} & 85.8443 \
ce{H} & pu{1.08E5} & 10.8182 \
ce{Cl} & pu{1.94E4} & 1.9433 \
ce{Na} & pu{1.08E4} & 1.0818 \
ce{Mg} & pu{1.29E3} & 0.1292 \
ce{S} & pu{9.05E2} & 0.0907 \
ce{Ca} & pu{4.12E2} & 0.0413 \
ce{K} & pu{3.99E2} & 0.0400 \
ce{Br} & pu{6.73E1} & 0.0067 \
ce{C} & pu{2.80E1} & 0.0028 \
ce{Sr} & pu{7.9} & 0.0008 \
ce{B} & pu{4.44} & 0.0004 \
ce{Si} & pu{2.2} & 0.0002 \
ce{F} & pu{1.3} & 0.0001 \
ce{N} & pu{5.00E-1} & 0.0001 \
hline
end{array}
References
- Haynes, W. M.; Lide, D. R.; Bruno, T. J. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics: A Ready-Reference Book of Chemical and Physical Data.; 2017; Vol. 97.
As it has already been mentioned, these are mass percentages, which are a bit imprecise. For the reference, CRC handbook of chemistry and physics [1, p. 14-17] lists elements' abundances in seawater near the surface in $pu{mg L-1}$, alphabetically. I took 15 (starting with 16th element $omega < 10^{-4}~%$) most abundant elements from that array and calculated mass percentage for each:
begin{array}{llr}
hline
text{Element} & rho_i/pu{mg L-1} & omega/% \
hline
ce{O} & pu{8.57E5} & 85.8443 \
ce{H} & pu{1.08E5} & 10.8182 \
ce{Cl} & pu{1.94E4} & 1.9433 \
ce{Na} & pu{1.08E4} & 1.0818 \
ce{Mg} & pu{1.29E3} & 0.1292 \
ce{S} & pu{9.05E2} & 0.0907 \
ce{Ca} & pu{4.12E2} & 0.0413 \
ce{K} & pu{3.99E2} & 0.0400 \
ce{Br} & pu{6.73E1} & 0.0067 \
ce{C} & pu{2.80E1} & 0.0028 \
ce{Sr} & pu{7.9} & 0.0008 \
ce{B} & pu{4.44} & 0.0004 \
ce{Si} & pu{2.2} & 0.0002 \
ce{F} & pu{1.3} & 0.0001 \
ce{N} & pu{5.00E-1} & 0.0001 \
hline
end{array}
References
- Haynes, W. M.; Lide, D. R.; Bruno, T. J. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics: A Ready-Reference Book of Chemical and Physical Data.; 2017; Vol. 97.
edited 4 hours ago
answered 7 hours ago
andselisk
12.8k64498
12.8k64498
add a comment |
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Ahmed is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Ahmed is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
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