An Elementary Study of Chemistry, William McPherson [icecream ebook reader txt] 📗
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Effect of impurities on health. The mineral matter in water does not, save in very exceptional cases, render the water injurious to the human system. In fact the presence of a certain amount of such matter is advantageous, supplying the mineral constituents necessary for the formation of the solid tissues of the body. The presence of organic matter, on the other hand, must always be regarded with suspicion. This organic matter may consist not only of the products of animal and vegetable life but also of certain microscopic forms of living organisms which are likely to accompany such products. Contagious diseases are known to be due to the presence in the body of minute living organisms or germs. Each disease is caused by its own particular kind of germ. Through sewage these germs may find their way from persons afflicted with disease into the water supply, and it is principally through the drinking water that certain of these diseases, especially typhoid fever, are spread. It becomes of great importance, therefore, to be able to detect such matter when present in drinking water as well as to devise methods whereby it can be removed or at least rendered harmless.
Analysis of water. The mineral analysis of a water is, as the name suggests, simply the determination of the mineral matter present. Sanitary analysis, on the other hand, is the determination of the organic matter present. The physical properties of a water give no conclusive evidence as to its purity, since a water may be unfit for drinking purposes and yet be perfectly clear and odorless. Neither can any reliance be placed on the simple methods often given for testing the purity of water. Only the trained chemist can carry out such methods of analysis as can be relied upon.
Purification of water. Three general methods are used for the purification of water, namely, distillation, filtration, and boiling.
1. Distillation. The most effective way of purifying natural waters is by the process of distillation. This consists in boiling the water and condensing the steam. Fig. 24 illustrates the process of distillation, as commonly conducted in the laboratory. Ordinary water is poured into the flask A and boiled. The steam is conducted through the condenser B, which consists essentially of a narrow glass tube sealed within a larger one, the space between the two being filled with cold water, which is admitted at C and escapes at D. The inner tube is thus kept cool and the steam in passing through it is condensed. The water formed by the condensation of the steam collects in the receiver E and is known as distilled water. Such water is practically pure, since the impurities are nonvolatile and remain in the flask A.
Commercial distillation. In preparing distilled water on a large scale, the steam is generated in a boiler or other metal container and condensed by passing it through a pipe made of metal, generally tin. This pipe is wound into a spiral and is surrounded by a current of cold water. Distilled water is used by the chemist in almost all of his work. It is also used in the manufacture of artificial ice and for drinking water.
Fractional distillation. In preparing distilled water, it is evident that if the natural water contains some substance which is volatile its vapor will pass over and be condensed with the steam, so that the distillate will not be pure water. Even such mixtures, however, may generally be separated by repeated distillation. Thus, if a mixture of water (boiling point 100°) and alcohol (boiling point 78°) is distilled, the alcohol, having the lower boiling point, tends to distill first, followed by the water. The separation of the two is not perfect, however, but may be made nearly so by repeated distillations. The process of separating a mixture of volatile substances by distillation is known as fractional distillation.
2. Filtration. The process of distillation practically removes all nonvolatile foreign matter, mineral as well as organic. In purifying water for drinking purposes, however, it is only necessary to eliminate the latter or to render it harmless. This is ordinarily done either by filtration or boiling. In filtration the water is passed through some medium which will retain the organic matter. Ordinary charcoal is a porous substance and will condense within its pores the organic matter in water if brought in contact with it. It is therefore well adapted to the construction of filters. Such filters to be effective must be kept clean, since it is evident that the charcoal is useless after its pores are filled. A more effective type of filter is the Chamberlain-Pasteur filter. In this the water is forced through a porous cylindrical cup, the pores being so minute as to strain out the organic matter.
City filtration beds. For purifying the water supply of cities, large filtration beds are prepared from sand and gravel, and the water is allowed to filter through these. Some of the impurities are strained out by the filter, while others are decomposed by the action of certain kinds of bacteria present in the sand. Fig. 25 shows a cross section of a portion of the filter used in purifying the water supply of Philadelphia. The water filters through the sand and gravel and passes into the porous pipe A, from which it is pumped into the city mains. The filters are covered to prevent the water from freezing in cold weather.
3. Boiling. A simpler and equally efficient method for purifying water for drinking purposes consists in boiling the water. It is the germs in water that render it dangerous to health. These germs are living forms of matter. If the water is boiled, the germs are killed and the water rendered safe. While these germs are destroyed by heat, cold has little effect upon them. Thus Dewar, in working with liquid hydrogen, exposed some of these minute forms of life to the temperature of boiling hydrogen (-252°) without killing them.
Self-purification of water. It has long been known that water contaminated with organic matter tends to purify itself when exposed to the air. This is due to the fact that the water takes up a small amount of oxygen from the air, which gradually oxidizes the organic matter present in the water. While water is undoubtedly purified in this way, the method cannot be relied upon to purify a contaminated water so as to render it safe for drinking purposes.
Physical properties. Pure water is an odorless and tasteless liquid, colorless in thin layers, but having a bluish tinge when observed through a considerable thickness. It solidifies at 0° and boils at 100° under the normal pressure of one atmosphere. If the pressure is increased, the boiling point is raised. When water is cooled it steadily contracts until the temperature of 4° is reached: it then expands. Water is remarkable for its ability to dissolve other substances, and is the best solvent known. Solutions of solids in water are more frequently employed in chemical work than are the solid substances, for chemical action between substances goes on more readily when they are in solution than it does when they are in the solid state.
Chemical properties. Water is a very stable substance, or, in other words, it does not undergo decomposition readily. To decompose it into its elements by heat alone requires a very high temperature; at 2500°, for example, only about 5% of the entire amount is decomposed. Though very stable towards heat, water can be decomposed in other ways, as by the action of the electrical current or by certain metals.
Heat of formation and heat of decomposition are equal. The fact that a very high temperature is necessary to decompose water into hydrogen and oxygen is in accord with the fact that a great deal of heat is evolved by the union of hydrogen and oxygen; for it has been proved that the heat necessary to decompose a compound into its elements (heat of decomposition) is equal to the heat evolved in the formation of a compound from its elements (heat of formation).
Water of crystallization. When a solid is dissolved in water and the resulting solution is allowed to evaporate, the solid separates out, often in the form of crystals. It has been found that the crystals of many compounds, although perfectly dry, give up a definite amount of water when heated, the substance at the same time losing its crystalline form. Such water is called water of crystallization. This varies in amount with different compounds, but is perfectly definite for the same compound. Thus, if a perfectly dry crystal of copper sulphate is strongly heated in a tube, water is evolved and condenses on the sides of the tube, the crystal crumbling to a light powder. The weight of the water evolved is always equal to exactly 36.07% of the weight of copper sulphate crystals heated. The water must therefore be in chemical combination with the substance composing the crystal; for if simply mixed with it or adhering to it, not only would the substance appear moist but the amount present would undoubtedly vary. The combination, however, must be a very weak one, since the water is often expelled by even a gentle heat. Indeed, in some cases the water is given up on simple exposure to air. Such compounds are said to be efflorescent. Thus a crystal of sodium sulphate (Glauber's salt) on exposure to air crumbles to a fine powder, owing to the escape of its water of crystallization. Other substances have just the opposite property: they absorb moisture when exposed to the air. For example, if a bit of dry calcium chloride is placed in moist air, in the course of a few hours it will have absorbed sufficient moisture to dissolve it. Such substances are said to be deliquescent. A deliquescent body serves as a good drying or desiccating agent. We have already employed calcium chloride as an agent for absorbing the moisture from hydrogen. Many substances, as for example quartz, form crystals which contain no water of crystallization.
Mechanically inclosed water. Water of crystallization must be carefully distinguished from water which is mechanically inclosed in a crystal and which can be removed by powdering the crystal and drying. Thus, when crystals of common salt are heated, the water inclosed in the crystal is changed into steam and bursts the crystal with a crackling sound. Such crystals are said to decrepitate. That this water is not combined is proved by the fact that the amount present varies and that it has all the properties of water.
Uses of water. The importance of water in its relation to life and commerce is too well known to require comment. Its importance to the chemist has also been pointed out. It remains to call attention to the fact that it is used as a standard in many physical measurements. Thus 0° and 100° on the centigrade scale are respectively the freezing and the boiling points of water under normal pressure. The weight of 1 cc. of water at its point of greatest density is the unit of weight in the metric system, namely, the gram. It is also taken as the unit for the determination of the density of liquids and solids as well as for the measurement of amounts of heat.
HYDROGEN DIOXIDEComposition. As has been shown, 1 part by weight of hydrogen combines with 7.94 parts by weight of oxygen to form water. It is possible, however, to obtain a second compound of
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