Chemical composition of seawater
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
edited Dec 17 at 20:32
andselisk
13k64598
asked Dec 17 at 19:10
Ahmed
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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
edited Dec 17 at 20:32
andselisk
13k64598
asked Dec 17 at 19:10
Ahmed
1264
New contributor
Ahmed is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
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
edited Dec 17 at 20:32
andselisk
13k64598
asked Dec 17 at 19:10
Ahmed
1264
New contributor
Ahmed is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
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
edited Dec 17 at 20:32
andselisk
13k64598
asked Dec 17 at 19:10
Ahmed
1264
New contributor
Ahmed is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited Dec 17 at 20:32
andselisk
13k64598
asked Dec 17 at 19:10
Ahmed
1264
New contributor
Ahmed is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited Dec 17 at 20:32
andselisk
13k64598
edited Dec 17 at 20:32
andselisk
13k64598
edited Dec 17 at 20:32
andselisk
13k64598
13k64598
asked Dec 17 at 19:10
Ahmed
1264
New contributor
Ahmed is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked Dec 17 at 19:10
Ahmed
1264
asked Dec 17 at 19:10
Ahmed
1264
1264
New contributor
Ahmed is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Ahmed is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
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2 Answers
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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.
answered Dec 17 at 19:23
PJ R
75111
add a comment |
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.
answered Dec 17 at 20:29
andselisk
13k64598
You say the numbers are a bit imprecise, but they have to be, because not all seawater is the same!
– Mr Lister
Dec 18 at 10:50
add a comment |
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2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
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active
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votes
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 Dec 17 at 19:23
PJ R
75111
add a comment |
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 Dec 17 at 19:23
PJ R
75111
add a comment |
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 Dec 17 at 19:23
PJ R
75111
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 Dec 17 at 19:23
PJ R
75111
answered Dec 17 at 19:23
PJ R
75111
answered Dec 17 at 19:23
PJ R
75111
answered Dec 17 at 19:23
PJ R
75111
75111
add a comment |
add a comment |
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.
answered Dec 17 at 20:29
andselisk
13k64598
You say the numbers are a bit imprecise, but they have to be, because not all seawater is the same!
– Mr Lister
Dec 18 at 10:50
add a comment |
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.
answered Dec 17 at 20:29
andselisk
13k64598
You say the numbers are a bit imprecise, but they have to be, because not all seawater is the same!
– Mr Lister
Dec 18 at 10:50
add a comment |
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.
answered Dec 17 at 20:29
andselisk
13k64598
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.
answered Dec 17 at 20:29
andselisk
13k64598
edited Dec 17 at 22:51
answered Dec 17 at 20:29
andselisk
13k64598
answered Dec 17 at 20:29
andselisk
13k64598
answered Dec 17 at 20:29
andselisk
13k64598
13k64598
You say the numbers are a bit imprecise, but they have to be, because not all seawater is the same!
– Mr Lister
Dec 18 at 10:50
add a comment |
You say the numbers are a bit imprecise, but they have to be, because not all seawater is the same!
– Mr Lister
Dec 18 at 10:50
You say the numbers are a bit imprecise, but they have to be, because not all seawater is the same!
– Mr Lister
Dec 18 at 10:50
You say the numbers are a bit imprecise, but they have to be, because not all seawater is the same!
– Mr Lister
Dec 18 at 10:50
add a comment |
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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