Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

Gorstag t1_is4kzj5 wrote

Reply to comment by his_rotundity_ in Does the salinity of ocean water increase as depth increases? by rhinotomus

Intuitively I would think the opposite would be true. For example sweet tea is heated to add more sugar. Your explanation allowed me to logically see why the phenomenon occurs with salt in the ocean. Kudos.

11

Fun_Wind7710 t1_is55xj6 wrote

Different compounds have different temperatures where they have peak solubility in water. Oxygen is more soluble in cold water, for example.

5

TrueBeluga t1_is5h47b wrote

That’s because oxygen is a gas. Gases are more soluble in cold water, solids more soluble in hot water.

4

kawaiisatanu t1_is5cd22 wrote

No, the real answer is that salt (sea salt is mostly just NaCl) has a solubility way higher than the amount of salt in the sea, so of course you can have saltier colder water than less salty warm water.

3

UtsuhoMori t1_is5dyd4 wrote

iirc it's more about the state of matter of the molecules being dissolved; As in oxygen is more soluble in cold water because it's a gas at room temp and salt is more soluble in hot water because it's a solid at room temp.

Excess heat energy in a liquid allows gas to escape easier, reducing solubility of gas in hot water. On the other hand, excess heat energy is needed in order to free more molecules from a solid like sodium chloride and keep them in solution.

1

atomfullerene t1_is7rlm6 wrote

Heating things does let you dissolve more into it, but the ocean isn't near the maximum amount of salt that could be dissolved in it.

1