Is sea water close to being a saturated sodium chloride solution?
No. Sea water is approximately 3.5% NaCl.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_chloride
Yes, sea water is close to being a saturated sodium chloride solution.
To determine whether sea water is close to being a saturated sodium chloride solution, we need to understand the concept of solubility and saturation.
Solubility refers to the maximum amount of solute that can dissolve in a given amount of solvent at a specific temperature. Saturation occurs when a solution contains the maximum possible amount of dissolved solute at a given temperature.
Sea water is a complex mixture that contains various salts, including sodium chloride (NaCl). The concentration of NaCl in sea water varies from place to place, but on average, it is around 3.5% (35 grams of salt per liter of water).
To determine if sea water is close to being saturated with sodium chloride, we need to compare its concentration to the solubility of NaCl in water at the same temperature. At normal room temperature (around 25 degrees Celsius), the solubility of NaCl is approximately 357 grams per liter of water.
Considering the solubility of sodium chloride, we can conclude that sea water, with an average concentration of 3.5%, is far from being saturated. It still has the potential to dissolve more salt before reaching saturation.
In summary, sea water is not close to being a saturated sodium chloride solution since its concentration of sodium chloride is significantly lower than the solubility limit at room temperature.