Question #a92e2

1 Answer
Aug 12, 2015

The specific heat capacity of a substance is the amount of energy needed to change the temperature of 1 kg of the substance by 1°C. Different substances have different specific heat capacities.

Explanation:

As the salt concentration increases in water the specific heat decreases . For pure water, the specific heat is 1.00 cal/g-C, while for a saturated NaCl solution (brine) the specific heat is 0.786 cal/g-C.

As the amount of NaCl is increased in the solution, the hydrogen bonding structure of water is disturbed. There would be less hydrogen bonding in the salt solution than in pure water. Also, much of the water will be involved with hydrating the ions, insulating them from the rest of the solution by forming a solvent sheath around them. This apparently disrupts the ability of the water to hold heat resulting in a lower heat capacity for the salt solution.

graph to understand better

the conclusion is to reduce the concentration of salt