Lesson 1.3 Properties of Liquids (Study Guide)

Lesson 1.3
Properties of Liquids

Contents
Introduction 1
Learning Objectives 2
Warm Up 2
Learn about It! 3

States of Matter 3
Solids 3
Liquids 3
Gases 4
Properties of Liquids 5
Surface Tension 5
Cohesion, Adhesion, and Capillary Action 7
Viscosity 8
Enthalpy of Vaporization 8
Vapor Pressure 9
Solubility 10
Boiling Point 12
Key Points 13
Check Your Understanding 14
Challenge Yourself 16
Bibliography 16

Unit 1: Intermolecular Forces of Attraction and Solids and Liquids

Lesson 1.3

Introduction
Have you ever observed small insects walking on the surface of the water? These insects
can walk because of the thin film of water molecules on the surface. The thin film is a result
of the attractive forces between each water droplet. In nature, there are attractive and
repulsive forces. Some of these attractive forces also exist among very small particles of
matter. In the previous lesson, you have described the different types of intermolecular
forces of attraction present between molecules and learned how to predict the
intermolecular forces between specific molecules. In this lesson, you will discuss the
different properties of liquids and the importance of each property that affect the things
around us.

1.3. Properties of Liquids 1


Learning Objectives DepEd Competency

In this lesson, you should be able to do the Describe the following properties of
liquids, and explain the effect of
following:
intermolecular forces on these
● Describe the properties of liquids. properties: surface tension,
● Explain the effect of the viscosity, vapor pressure, boiling
intermolecular forces of attraction on point, and heat of vaporization

(STEM_GC11IMF-IIIa-c-102).
the properties of liquids.

Warm Up
Tricky Water 25 minutes

Have you ever seen a magic show? Do you believe that it was magic? This simple activity will

introduce you to a magic trick that—believe it or not—is pure science!

Materials
● clean, transparent glass jar
● mosquito net
● rubber band
● clean water
● laminated paper/cardboard

Procedure
1. Cover the jar with mosquito net and use a rubber band to keep the net in place. Fill
3/4 of the jar with water.
2. Place the laminated paper/cardboard on top of the jar and press it firmly, then invert
the jar.
3. Remove your hand from the laminated paper/cardboard, holding only the inverted
jar. Observe.



4. Remove the laminated paper/cardboard from the inverted jar. Observe.

Guide Questions
1. What happened when you removed your hand from the laminated paper?
2. What happened when you removed the laminated paper/cardboard from the
inverted jar?
3. Provide an explanation of the observations you have tabulated in items 1 and 2.

Learn about It!

States of Matter
Everything that takes up space and has mass is matter. All matter is composed of atoms,
which are in turn made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons. Matter can be described in
terms of its physical state.

What are the different states of matter?

Solids
A solid is characterized by having particles that are packed tightly together, so they do not
move much. Solids have a definite shape and occupy an exact volume. They do not conform
to the shape of the container in which they are placed.

Liquids
The particles in a liquid are slightly further apart than solids, which allow it to take the shape
of its container. The arrangement of particles allows liquids to be compressed more easily
than solids. Liquids are similar to solids in such a way that their volumes do not change
significantly with varying temperatures and pressure.



solid liquid gas
Fig. 1.3.1. Microscopic view of solid, liquid, and gas particles.

Gases
In a gas, the particles have a great deal of space between them and have high kinetic
energy. They occupy the same shape as its container but do not have an exact volume.
Unlike solids and liquids, gases have volumes that depend on temperature and pressure.

Fig. 1.3.2. The strength of IMFA increases from gas to liquid to solid.



The strength of IMFAs present in a substance reflects its overall phase. Molecules held
together by strong IMFAs are usually solid at room temperature, while those molecules that
are held by weaker IMFAs are usually liquid or gas. For instance, consider the halogens in
Fig. 1.3.2. Cl2, Br2, and I2 are nonpolar molecules, and their molecules are held together by
London dispersion forces (LDFs). Since LDFs increase with molecular weight, the molecules
of I2 are held by the strongest IMFA compared to Br2 and Cl2. As a consequence, I2 exists as a
solid, Br2 exists as a liquid, and Cl2 exists as a gas at room temperature.

Liquids have some similar properties with solids and gases. High densities and the ability to
resist compression are some of these properties, to name a few. These properties can be
attributed to the intermolecular forces of attraction that hold the molecules together in
order to occupy a volume of a certain space of a container. These intermolecular forces of
attraction are directly related to the surface tension, viscosity, and vapor pressure of the
liquid.

What are the different properties of liquids?

Surface Tension
Surface tension is the tendency of a fluid to acquire the least possible surface area.
Imagine a small drop of any liquid. It is assumed that a drop is spherical in shape. This is
because of the intermolecular forces of attraction present in the molecules of liquids.

In Fig. 1.3.3, the arrows represent the attractions for the inner molecules as well as the
molecules on the surface of the droplet. An inner molecule is attracted to its neighboring
molecules in all directions. On the other hand, the surface molecule has no neighboring
molecules above it, and a net force attracts the surface molecule towards the interior of the
fluid. This causes unbalanced forces on the surface molecules, causing the fluid to create a
shape with the smallest surface area for a fixed volume, that is, of a sphere.



Fig. 1.3.3. Water droplets exhibiting surface tension

Since surface molecules can accommodate an extra force going downwards, small objects
or insects can be placed or walk on top of these water molecules. The surface molecules act
as a thin film that can accommodate small forces. This allows water striders to walk on
water, or needles to be placed horizontally on a bowl of water without sinking.

Fig. 1.3.4. Water striders can walk on water because of surface tension.



Cohesion, Adhesion, and Capillary Action
Another implication of surface tension is capillary action, a phenomenon in which liquids
rise spontaneously in a capillary tube. Two types of forces are needed to be considered in
explaining capillary action: cohesion and adhesion. Cohesion is the attraction between like
molecules, while adhesion is the attraction between unlike molecules. The balance between
cohesive and adhesive forces result in properties such as capillary rise or fall and concave
and convex meniscus.

Fig. 1.3.5. Cohesive and adhesive forces in capillary action



Viscosity
Viscosity is the measure of a fluid’s resistance to flow. Liquids that flow easily have low
viscosity, while liquids that do not flow readily have high viscosity. Imagine you are pouring
two types of liquids. One is cough syrup, and the other one is plain tap water. You can easily
observe the difference in their viscosities when poured.

Molecules with stronger intermolecular forces have greater resistance to flow because it is
difficult for the molecules to move and slide past one another. Thus, they have higher
viscosity compared to those with weaker IMFA.

Viscosity is also affected by temperature. When the temperature is high, the molecules have
more energy, and it becomes easier to overcome the IMFA. This leads to lower viscosity.

Remember
For liquids, viscosity decreases with increasing temperature, but for
gases, the viscosity increases with increasing temperature.
Why do water droplets that condense from fog

appear spherical?

Enthalpy of Vaporization
Vaporization is the process where a fraction of the kinetic energy of a liquid escapes from
the surface to enter the vapor phase. The enthalpy of vaporization (∆Hvap), also called the
heat of vaporization, is the heat required to induce this phase change.
This phenomenon occurs more readily with:
● increased temperature as more molecules have sufficient kinetic energy to
overcome intermolecular forces of attraction in the liquid.
● increased surface area of the liquid since a greater proportion of the liquid
molecules are at the surface.



● decreased strength of intermolecular forces as the kinetic energy needed to
overcome intermolecular forces of attraction is less, and more molecules have
enough energy to escape.

Fig. 1.3.6. The equilibrium nature of vaporization in a closed container. At first (a), only
evaporation occurs. After some time (b), condensation occurs as more vapor molecules are
produced through vaporization. At equilibrium (c), evaporation and condensation happen
simultaneously at equal rates.

Since the enthalpy of vaporization is the quantity of heat that must be absorbed if a certain
quantity of liquid is vaporized at a constant temperature, ∆Hvap is always greater than zero.

Vapor Pressure
Vapor pressure is the pressure exerted by a vapor in equilibrium with its liquid phase in a
closed system. Molecules with stronger intermolecular forces have less tendency to escape
into gas, and thus, have lower vapor pressure compared to those with weaker IMFA.

Hydrogen bonding, which is a strong type of IMFA, explains why some substances have a
low vapor pressure. A lot of energy must be expended to break hydrogen bonds, and thus,
break large clusters of bonded molecules. Let us look at the example of water and acetone.
Water, which exhibits hydrogen bonding, has lower vapor pressure compared to acetone,
CH3COCH3. Since more energy is needed to disrupt the IMFA in water to convert it to vapor,
its boiling point will also be higher than acetone. In fact, the boiling point of acetone is only
56 °C, while water boils at 100 °C.



Fig. 1.3.7. Structures of water and acetone and their predominant IMFA.

Solubility
Solubility refers to the ability of a substance to dissolve in a given amount of solvent at a
specified temperature. Recall the rule “like dissolves like.” When the solute and the solvent
both exhibit the same intermolecular forces of attraction, they form a solution.

Let us look at the example of water and ethanol. They are polar substances. They both
exhibit LDF, dipole-dipole forces, and hydrogen bonding. When mixed together, they form a
solution. If two liquids dissolve or mix together, they are called miscible liquids.

Fig. 1.3.8. Water and ethanol form a solution.



Let us look at another example, mixing hexane and water. Compared to the first example,
hexane and water do not have similar IMFA. The only attractive forces present in hexane are
the relatively weak London dispersion forces. These forces cannot significantly disrupt the
strong hydrogen bonding among water molecules. Therefore, hexane and water form a
heterogeneous mixture. If two liquids do not dissolve or mix together, they are called
immiscible liquids.

Substances or molecules that form interactions with water are also described as
hydrophilic. Dipole-dipole forces and hydrogen bonding are the primary IMFA in
hydrophilic substances. In contrast, substances or molecules that repel water are described
as hydrophobic. London dispersion forces are the primary IMFA in these substances. Some
large molecules can have both hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions. Soaps and detergents
are examples of these kinds of molecules. These types of molecules are known as
amphipathic molecules. Soap and detergent molecules have hydrophilic heads and
hydrophobic tails. The hydrophilic head interacts with the water while the hydrophobic tail
interacts with the grease. They form an enclosing structure called micelles, which allows the
soap or detergent to remove stains from clothes.

Remember
The stronger the intermolecular forces between the solvent
molecule and the solute molecule, the greater the solubility.

The predominant intermolecular forces between polar molecules
are hydrogen bonding and dipole-dipole. On the other hand, the
predominant intermolecular force between nonpolar molecules is
London dispersion.
● Polar molecules are soluble in a polar solvent.
● Nonpolar molecules are soluble in a nonpolar solvent.
● Polar molecules and nonpolar molecules do not mix
together.



Boiling Point
Boiling point is the temperature at which a substance changes from liquid to gas. Boiling
happens when the molecules of a liquid gain enough energy to overcome the
intermolecular forces of attraction that hold the molecules together. Stronger
intermolecular forces mean a greater amount of energy is needed to break the attractive
forces between molecules. Substances with stronger IMFAs have higher boiling points
compared to those with weaker IMFA.

For example, water and hydrogen fluoride are polar molecules. Hydrogen bonding is
present in these molecules, which is a strong type of IMFA. As a result, their boiling points
are higher than nonpolar molecules. The boiling point of water is also significantly higher
than similar binary compounds of hydrogen and a Group 6A element. Without hydrogen
bonding, the predicted boiling point of water should be less than -60 °C. If that were true,
water would exist as a gas at room temperature, and life on earth will probably not exist!

Structures of water and hydrogen fluoride

Table 1.3.1. Boiling points of compounds of hydrogen and a Group 6A element
Compound Boiling Point (°C)
H2O 100
H2S -61
H2Se -41
H2Te -2.2



Shown in Fig. 1.3.9 is a plot of vapor pressure (y-axis) in atm versus temperature (x-axis) in
ºC for diethyl ether, water, and mercury. The temperature at which the vapor pressure is 1
atm is called the normal boiling point, or simply boiling point. Mercury has the highest
normal boiling point since the molecules are held by strong metallic bonds. Water has a
higher normal boiling point than diethyl ether because of its capability to form H-bonds.

Fig. 1.3.9. Vapor pressure versus temperature curve for diethyl ether, water, and mercury

Key Points
___________________________________________________________________________________________

● Matter is anything that occupies space and has mass. The states of matter are
solid, liquid, and gas.
○ Solid particles are packed tightly together, which makes it difficult to
compress. They have a definite shape and occupy exact volume.
○ Liquid particles are slightly further apart than solids. They occupy the same
shape as its container and still occupy the exact volume.
○ Gas particles are very far apart from each other. They occupy the same
shape as its container but do not have an exact volume.



● Surface tension is the tendency of a fluid to acquire the least possible surface area.
Liquids with strong IMFAs have high surface tension.
● Viscosity is the measure of a fluid’s resistance to flow. Molecules with stronger IMFA
have higher viscosity compared to those with weaker IMFA. Higher temperature
leads to lower viscosity.
● Enthalpy of vaporization is the amount of energy that must be added to a liquid
substance to transform a quantity of that substance into a gas.
● Vapor pressure is the pressure exerted by a vapor in equilibrium with its liquid
phase in a closed system. Substances with stronger IMFAs have lower vapor pressure
compared to those with weaker IMFA.
● Solubility refers to the ability of a substance to dissolve in a given amount of solvent
at a specified temperature. When the solute and the solvent both exhibit the same
IMFA, they form a solution.
○ If two liquids dissolve or mix together, they are called miscible liquids.
○ If two liquids do not dissolve or mix together, they are called immiscible
liquids.
● Boiling point is the temperature at which a substance changes from liquid to gas.
Boiling happens when the molecules of a liquid gain enough energy to overcome the
intermolecular forces of attraction that hold the molecules together.
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Check Your Understanding

A. Identify the terms described in each of the following

items.

___________________________ 1. It is the term used to refer to the pressure exerted by

a vapor in equilibrium with a liquid.
___________________________ 2. It is a state of matter that occupies the same shape

as its container and occupies the exact volume.



___________________________ 3. This term refers to the ability of a substance to

dissolve in a given amount of solvent at a specified
temperature.
___________________________ 4. It is a property of liquid that refers to the

temperature at which a substance changes from
liquid to gas.
___________________________ 5. It is the measure of a fluid’s resistance to flow.
___________________________ 6. It is the tendency of a liquid to acquire the least

possible surface area.
___________________________ 7. These are molecules or regions in a molecule that

repel water.
___________________________ 8. It is a state of matter that has a definite shape.
___________________________ 9. These are composed of large molecules that contain

both hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions.
__________________________ 10. These are molecules or regions in a molecule that

are attracted to water.

B. Write T if the following statement is true. Otherwise,

write F.

_______ 1. If a liquid has strong IMFA hey have low surface tensions
_______ 2. For liquids, viscosity decreases with decreasing temperature.
_______ 3. Miscible liquids are molecules that mix together.
_______ 4. Gas particles are tightly packed that gives them a definite shape.
_______ 5. If A has weaker IMFA than B, therefore, the vapor pressure of A is higher
than B.



C. Solve the following problems.

Rank the compounds (being 1 the highest) based on the

properties provided below.
CH3CH2OCH3, CH3CH2CH2NH2, CH3CH2CH2CH2CH2NH2,
CH3CH2CH2CH3
1. viscosity
2. surface tension
3. vapor pressure
4. heat of vaporization
5. boiling point

Challenge Yourself

Answer the following questions.
1. Why do surface tension and viscosity decrease with temperature, whereas vapor
pressure increases with temperature? Note that surface tension, viscosity, and
vapor pressure are all related to intermolecular forces.
2. Explain how IMFA is related to vapor pressure and boiling point.
3. Arrange the following substances in order of decreasing surface tension and explain
your answer.
CH3CH3 CH4 CH3CH2OH
Bibliography
Brown T.L. et al. 2012. Chemistry: The Central Science. Pearson Prentice Hall.Brown.
Chemistry: The Central Science. Prentice-Hall, 2005.

Bettelheim, Frederick A., et al. 2015. Introduction to General, Organic and Biochemistry.
Boston: Cengage Learning.



Ebbing, Darrell and Steven Gammon. 2016. General Chemistry. Boston: Cengage Learning.

Moore, John W, and Conrad L. Stanitski. 2015. Chemistry: The Molecular Science, 5th ed. USA:
Cengage Learning.

Petrucci, Ralph H. General Chemistry: Principles and Modern Applications. Toronto, Ont.:
Pearson Canada, 2011. Print.

Reger, Daniel L., et al. 2009. Chemistry: Principles and Practice. Boston: Cengage Learning.

Silberberg, Martin S. 2007. Principles of General Chemistry. McGraw-Hill Company.

Spencer, James N., et al. 2010. Chemistry: Structure and Dynamics. New Jersey: John Wiley &
Sons.


Lesson 1.3 Properties of Liquids (Study Guide)

Încărcat de

Informații document

Drepturi de autor

Formate disponibile

Partajați acest document

Partajați sau inserați document

Opțiuni de partajare

Vi se pare util acest document?

Este necorespunzător acest conținut?

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

Lesson 1.3 Properties of Liquids (Study Guide)

Încărcat de

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

Learn about It! 3

Key Points 13

Check Your Understanding 14

Challenge Yourself 16

Learning Objectives DepEd Competency

intermolecular forces of attraction on point, and heat of vaporization

Have you ever seen a magic show? Do you believe that it was magic? This simple activity will

Learn about It!

What are the different states of matter?

What are the different properties of liquids?

Why do water droplets that condense from fog

Compound Boiling Point (°C)

Check Your Understanding

A. Identify the terms described in each of the following

___________________________ 1. It is the term used to refer to the pressure exerted by

___________________________ 2. It is a state of matter that occupies the same shape

___________________________ 3. This term refers to the ability of a substance to

___________________________ 4. It is a property of liquid that refers to the

___________________________ 5. It is the measure of a ﬂuid’s resistance to ﬂow.

___________________________ 6. It is the tendency of a liquid to acquire the least

___________________________ 7. These are molecules or regions in a molecule that

___________________________ 8. It is a state of matter that has a deﬁnite shape.

___________________________ 9. These are composed of large molecules that contain

__________________________ 10. These are molecules or regions in a molecule that

B. Write T if the following statement is true. Otherwise,

_______ 2. For liquids, viscosity decreases with decreasing temperature.

_______ 3. Miscible liquids are molecules that mix together.

C. Solve the following problems.

Answer the following questions.

S-ar putea să vă placă și