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The Water Molecule and Dissolving -

Introducing a Free Online Resource for
Middle School Chemistry

Presented by: James Kessler

March 18, 2013

6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Eastern time
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 Introducing today’s presenter…

James Kessler
Manager, K-8 Science Education
American Chemical Society

Assisting in the chat:

Patti Galvan
Program Manager, K–8 Science Education
American Chemical Society

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Middleschoolchemistry.com
Big Ideas about the Very Small

Chapter 5: The Water Molecule

and Dissolving
 Welcome

What is middleschoolchemistry.com?

Free online resource for teaching

basic concepts in chemistry at the
middle school level.
Six chapters of activity-based lesson
plans which align with state standards
in physical science and inquiry.
Two main goals:
• Help students understand common
every day observations on the
molecular level.
• Help students to design and
conduct scientific experiments.

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 What’s in a Chapter?

• Lesson Plans (5E):

– Hands-on activities
– Student Activity Sheets
– Multimedia
– Extra Teacher Background

• Student Reading

• Test Bank

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 Goals of the Webinar

• Demonstrate selected activities and

animations from the lessons in Chapter 5
to show how they can be used with
students

• Review some basic chemistry concepts

covered in the lessons

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 Big Idea for Chapter 5:

What makes water a polar molecule and how does this polarity make
water a good dissolver and give it many of its other characteristics?

Use the “Fascination Number Line” to indicate your level of

fascination with this question.

0 5 10
Have never Willing to listen if Stay up nights
thought about it it doesn’t take too pondering this
and happy that long
way

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 Lesson 5.1
Water is a Polar Molecule

Engage Explore Explain Evaluate Extend

Why does water seem to stick to itself so well?

The property of water staying

together gives the stream of water
its shape.

To see why water does this, you

have to look at it at the molecular
level.

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Covalently Bonded Water Molecule

Engage Explore Explain Evaluate Extend

Mutual attractions between

positive protons and negative
electrons bring the atoms
together.

Covalent bonding is the sharing

of electrons between the
bonded atoms.

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The Water Molecule

Engage Explore Explain Evaluate Extend

Although the electrons are shared

between the oxygen and the
hydrogens, the sharing is not equal.

Oxygen has a stronger pull on electrons

than the hydrogen.

Therefore, the electrons spend more

time near the oxygen, making the
oxygen part of the atom slightly
negative.

Since the electrons are not near the

hydrogens as much, that part of the
molecule is slightly positive.

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 Polar Water Molecules Attract Each
Other

Engage Explore Explain Evaluate Extend

The polar ends of the water molecules

attract the oppositely charged polar
ends of other water molecules.

Although the molecules are in motion,

these attractions give water its
cohesive properties and unique
characteristics such as:

• Evaporation rate
• Surface tension
• Boiling point
• Ability to dissolve many substances

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Comparing Evaporation of Water
and Alcohol

Engage Explore Explain Evaluate Extend

How could we do a test to see if water or alcohol evaporates faster?

Have students suggest an experimental

design that could help answer this
question.

Use same amount of water and alcohol.

Place the water and alcohol on the same
surface at the same time.

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 Polarity Affects Rate of Evaporation
Engage Explore Explain Evaluate Extend

The water molecule has a positive or negative

polar area on each end of the molecule.

The alcohol molecule has a large portion which

is not very polar. The carbon and hydrogen
Water Isopropyl Alcohol bonded together is not very polar.

The alcohol molecules do not attract each

other as well as the water molecules. The
alcohol molecules are not held as tightly and
evaporate at a faster rate.

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Boiling Point for Water and Alcohol

Engage Explore Explain Evaluate Extend

Water has a boiling point of 100 °C but

isopropyl alcohol has a boiling point of 82.5 °C.

The boiling point is the temperature at which

the molecules of a liquid can change to a gas
anywhere in the liquid, not just at the surface
like in evaporation.

Ask students if they can use the polarity of the

water molecule, compared to the less polar
alcohol molecule, to explain why water has a
higher boiling point than alcohol.

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QUESTIONS?

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Lesson 5.2: Water’s Surface Tension

Even though the paper clip is more

dense than water, it doesn’t sink
because it is supported by water’s
surface tension.

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5.2 - Surface Tension and Polar Water
Molecules

The surface tension of water is based on the

attractions between the opposite polar ends of
water molecules.

Water molecules beneath the surface are

attracted in every direction by the molecules
around them.

But molecules at the surface are only attracted

by the molecules below them. These surface
molecules are pulled down and in in a more
uniform way.

This results in a more stable and stronger

arrangement at the surface, accounting for
water’s strong surface tension.

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Water on Different Surfaces

Why does water bead up on wax paper and absorb and spread out on a
paper towel?
Paper towel is made from trees which are made of
cellulose which is made of glucose molecules.

Glucose has lots of oxygen-hydrogen bonds so there

are areas of slight positive and negative charge just
like in the O-H bond in a water molecule.

Water molecules are attracted to these areas and tend

to absorb into the paper towel.

Wax paper has a coating of wax which is made of

paraffin molecules. These molecules are made of
carbon-hydrogen bonds which are not very polar.

Water molecules are more attracted to each other than

to the wax so they tend to stay together and bead up
rather than spread out and absorb into the wax paper.

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5.3 - Why Does Water Dissolve Salt?

Sodium chloride is made of positively charged

sodium ions and negatively charged chloride ions.

When water interacts with salt, the positive polar

area of the water molecule attracts the negative
chloride ion, and the negative polar area of the
water molecule attracts the positive sodium ion.

When the attractions of the water molecules

overcomes the attractions between the sodium
and chloride ions, the salt begins to dissolve.

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Water Dissolving Salt

The positive hydrogen end of the water

molecule attracts the negative chloride ion.

The negative oxygen end of the water

molecule attracts the positive sodium ion.

Students also make paper cut-outs of

water molecules and sodium chloride
ions. Students manipulate these to model
the process of dissolving.

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Is Water or Alcohol Better at Dissolving
Salt?

Students help design an experiment to see

whether water or alcohol is better at dissolving
salt.

Students practice identifying and controlling

variables:

• They should use the same amount of salt in

two cups that are the same.
• They should add the same amount of water
and alcohol.
• The water and alcohol should be at the same
temperature and poured onto the salt at the
same time.
• The two cups should be swirled in the same
Water Alcohol way for the same length of time.

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5.4 - Why Does Water Dissolve Sugar?

When an M&M is placed in room

temperature water, the colored sugar
coating slowly dissolves.

What is it about the molecules that

make up sugar that enables water to
dissolve it?

Is it made up of ions like salt or

something else?

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The Polarity of Sucrose

The molecule that makes up our normal table sugar is

sucrose. Sucrose is made of a glucose molecule bonded
to a fructose molecule.

The sucrose has many oxygen-hydrogen bonds so it has

many polar areas. These polar areas hold one sucrose
molecule to another to make up solid sugar.

The polar ends of water molecules attract the opposite

polar areas of the sucrose molecule and separate one
sucrose molecule from another.

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The Polarity of Sucrose Molecules

The charge-density model of glucose

shows areas of negative charge (near
the oxygen) in red, and areas of
positive charge (near the hydrogens)
in blue.

These opposite polar areas attract

each other and hold the sucrose
molecules together.

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Water Dissolves Sucrose

The polar ends of the water molecules

attract the oppositely charged polar
areas of the sucrose molecules.

When the attractions of the water

molecules for the sucrose molecules
overcomes the attractions of sucrose
molecules for one another, the sucrose
begins to dissolve.

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Would Sucrose Dissolve Better in
Water, Alcohol, or Oil?

Students help design an experiment to

answer the question.

They should suggest using:

• The same amount of each liquid
• Liquids at the same temperature
• Same color M&M
• Placed in the liquid at the same time
• Stirred in the same way

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Sugar Dissolving in Different Liquids

Sugar dissolves well in water because water is very

polar and interacts with the polar areas of sucrose.

Sugar does not dissolve very well in alcohol because

alcohol has a large part that is pretty non-polar.

Sugar hardly dissolves at all in oil because oil is very

non-polar.

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QUESTIONS?

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5.5 – Using Dissolving to Identify an
Unknown

Because substances dissolve according to

their unique molecular make-up, solubility is a
characteristic property of a substance.

Students help design a solubility test to identify

an unknown substance.

They need to put the same amount of each

substance (Epsom salt, sugar, salt, MSG, and
an unknown) in the same amount of water. The
unknown is coarse kosher salt.

But how do you measure equal amounts of

these different substances? By volume or by
mass?

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A Solubility Test

Students measure 5 grams of each substance

and add it to 5 milliliters of water.

They swirl the same way and for the same

length of time.

Students look for which substance/s seem to

dissolve about the same amount as the
unknown.

After narrowing it down, they evaporate the

solutions to decide which recrystallized
substance looks most similar to the unknown.

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5.6 – Does Temperature Affect
Dissolving?
Students identify and control variables to
design an experiment.

• Same amount of water

• Same container
• Same color M&M
• Placed in water in the same way and at the
same time

The only difference is the temperature of the

water.

The energy from the hot water makes water

molecules move faster and sucrose molecules
vibrate faster. More water-sucrose interactions
have enough energy to pull sucrose molecules
away from other sucrose molecules causing
more dissolving.

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Graphing Solubility of Different
Substances

Students can interpret a graph of the solubility of

sugar and salt.

Use to help students interpret a graph, to see

that temperature affects dissolving, and to
confirm that each substance has a characteristic
solubility.

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5.7 – Can Liquids Dissolve in Water?

Alcohol looks kind of swirly as it goes into water.

Alcohol in Water The alcohol molecules are polar enough so when
stirred, it dissolves in the water.

Corn syrup is more dense than water so it initially

sinks but since it’s made of sugar, which is polar, it
dissolves.
Corn Syrup in Water
Oil is less dense than water so it initially floats.
Since oil is pretty non-polar, it does not dissolve in
water.

Oil in Water
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5.8 – Can Gases Dissolve in Water?

Carbon dioxide is a gas that is commonly

dissolved in water.

In the carbon dioxide molecule, a carbon

atom is covalently bonded to two oxygen
atoms.

Oxygen attracts the electrons a little

stronger than carbon so the molecule is a
little negative near the oxygen and a little
positive near the carbon.

The polar ends of the water molecules are

attracted to these opposite polar areas of
the carbon dioxide molecule.

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Temperature and Dissolved Gas

Students help design an experiment to see

if heating or cooling a liquid affects how
quickly the dissolved gas comes out of the
liquid.

Use the same amount of carbonated water

in the same type of cup.
Cold Hot
Place one cup in cold water and one in hot
water.

The energy from the hot water causes

molecules to move faster which competes
with attractions.

The carbon dioxide molecules break away

and come out of the solution.

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Dissolving Solid, Liquid, and Gas –
Text Book Stuff

Dissolving happens on the molecular level.

Dissolving depends on the interaction between the

molecules of the solvent (substance doing the
dissolving) and the solute (substance that is being
dissolved).

If there is enough attraction between the solvent and

solute molecules to overcome the attraction between
the solute molecules for each other, dissolving can
happen.

Dissolving occurs and a solution results when the

molecules of the solute are so intimately intermingled
with the molecules of the solvent, that they do not
settle out.

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QUESTIONS?

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 Thanks to today’s presenter!

James Kessler
Manager, K-8 Science Education
American Chemical Society

Assisting in the chat:

Patti Galvan
Program Manager, K–8 Science Education
American Chemical Society

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 Thank you to the sponsor of
tonight’s web seminar:

This web seminar contains information about programs, products, and services
offered by third parties, as well as links to third-party websites. The presence of
a listing or such information does not constitute an endorsement by NSTA of a
particular company or organization, or its programs, products, or services.
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 National Science Teachers Association
David Evans, Ph.D., Executive Director
Zipporah Miller, Associate Executive Director,
Conferences and Programs

NSTA Web Seminar Team

Al Byers, Ph.D., Assistant Executive Director,
e-Learning and Government Partnerships
Brynn Slate, Manager, Web Seminars, Online
Short Courses, and Symposia
Jeff Layman, Technical Coordinator, Web
Seminars, SciGuides, and Help Desk
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