What are the Chemical Properties of Seawater?
Seawater is mostly (~96.5%) water, but it contains important amounts of dissolved salts (~3.5%), which are mostly, but not all, sodium chloride, which is identical to table salt. The unique chemical properties of seawater mean that it is a drastically different living environment than fresh water, and many families that live in seawater have never adapted to live in fresh water. Species adapted to fresh water, such as fish in landlocked lakes in Africa, cannot survive in salty seawater. Seawater is about 2.5% denser than fresh water. Aside from calcium chloride salts, seawater also contains sulfates (7.7% of dissolved salts), magnesium (3.7%), calcium (1.2%), potassium (1.1%), and minor constituents (0.7%), including trace amounts of inorganic carbon (0.2%), bromide (0.08%), uranium (0.00000001%), and gold (similar amount). Various schemes have been proposed to extract uranium or gold from seawater, but neither has proved economically viable. Fritz Haber, the German scientist known for
Seawater is mostly (~96.5%) water, but it contains important amounts of dissolved salts (~3.5%), which are mostly, but not all, sodium chloride, which is identical to table salt. The unique chemical properties of seawater mean that it is a drastically different living environment than fresh water, and many families that live in seawater have never adapted to live in fresh water. Species adapted to fresh water, such as fish in landlocked lakes in Africa, cannot survive in salty seawater. Seawater is about 2.5% denser than fresh water. Aside from calcium chloride salts, seawater also contains sulfates (7.7% of dissolved salts), magnesium (3.7%), calcium (1.2%), potassium (1.1%), and minor constituents (0.7%), including trace amounts of inorganic carbon (0.2%), bromide (0.08%), uranium (0.00000001%), and gold (similar amount). Various schemes have been proposed to extract uranium or gold from seawater, but neither has proved economically viable. Fritz Haber, the German scientist known for
