Question:

Salt water vs. fresh water?

by  |  earlier

0 LIKES UnLike

how did all the fresh water freeze together(northpole & south pole)?and why didnt the salt water freeze?

 Tags:

   Report

5 ANSWERS


  1. When dissolved in a liquid, electrolytes such as sodium chloride generally "interfere" with the molecular bonds of the given substance -- in this case, h2o -- and lower its freezing point. The same principle can be invoked to explain why people sprinkle salt on pavement in order to melt ice.


  2. Ah, but the salt water *does* freeze! Salt water freezes at a lower (sometimes much lower) temperature than fresh water, but it will freeze. The sea ice at the poles is "salty", though not as much as the surrounding water (this is due to the different shapes of ice crystals and salt crystals; salt gets "pushed out" when the salt water freezes, though some is left behind).

    There is plenty of fresh water ice pack at the poles, of course, and this is due to precipitation (snow).

    So you have a combination of frozen seawater (with some of the salt pushed out during freezing) and fresh water snowpack.

    Hope that helps!


  3. When water freezes, all the H2O molecules stick together tightly.

    In salt water, the salt (NaCl) molecules get in the way of the molecules coming and sticking together (i.e. freezing).

    So when the water does freeze, it is just the water that freezes, without the salt in it (hence the "fresh water" icebergs in salt water oceans.

    While salt water can freeze, it takes a much lower temperature to freeze it.

  4. Salt water takes a lot lower freezing point to freeze.

  5. North and south pole ice (and the ice in at the top of the mountains) is actually compressed snow rather than frozen ocean water.

    It's not about the fact that it's salty (although salt water does freeze at a different temperature), but the fact that you have a large amount of water. As the water cools down to 4 degrees Centigrate it becomes heavier and sinks, but then below 4 degrees it actually becomes lighter (hence the ice floats). So the almost frozen water meets the warmer water on the way up and warms up itself.

Question Stats

Latest activity: earlier.
This question has 5 answers.

BECOME A GUIDE

Share your knowledge and help people by answering questions.