Scientific Tutor

What is the aqueous state of matter?

VIDEO Aqueous Discussion

Simply put aqueous means mixed with water. Some chemicals mix with water and others do not. Miscible means that two chemicals (like water and something else) are able to mix. Immiscible means that two chemicals are not able to mix. The other term for mixing together chemicals is solubility. How soluble two chemicals are when mixed together means how well or how fast do they mix. Two chemicals (like water and something else) that are very soluble will mix together very well and very fast. Two chemicals that are slightly soluble will mix together very poorly and very slowly. You are probably most familiar with the mixing of common table salt ( NaCl ) in water this is one example of an aqueous mixture. That means the salty ocean is an example of an aqueous state. However, gases can also be mixed with water to form an aqueous state. You can see this in a soda like Coke. CO₂ gas is mixed with water and when they are in an aqueous state (fizzy) you can observe a taste and texture change. The sodas taste and texture changes when the CO₂ is no longer mixed in (flat).

(Pic aqueous state of matter)

What is important about the aqueous state?

Aqueous states are important because they have some special properties. Both the water and the other chemical ( like NaCl ) that are mixed together can affect each other. The pressure characteristics of the water are affected by the salt ions and the state of the salt is changed from a solid form (the salt dissolves). Aqueous states also affect the freezing point and boiling point of the liquid. Lastly, there are limits to how much of the gas or liquid you can dissolve in the liquid and crystals or bubbling start to form when these limits are reached. Most of the above properties are explored in the solutions lesson but we will explore all of these special properties of aqueous solutions by the time chemistry is over.