Question

1. Water has an unusually high specific heat, melting point, boiling point, and heat of vaporization as compared to compounds of similar molar mass.  Explain why.

2. Explain why the state of Connecticut uses a brine solution of magnesium chloride in water, instead of sodium chloride followed by sand on the roads after an ice storm. Include any formulas an engineer would need for the project.

Answer 1

1). Water has an unusually high specific heat, melting point, boiling point, and heat of vaporization as compared to compounds of similar molar mass. It is because of the strong Hydrogen bonding present between the water molecules. Due to the presence of this strong force, a large amount of energy is required to break this bonding, which makes the high specific heat, melting point, boiling point, and heat of vaporization as compared to other molecules of the same size and molar mass.