Hardness Of Water Everywhere

My science fair question was “Is the hardness of water the same everywhere?”. This question is ironic due to the fact that water has a very loose molecular structure and takes no shape without a container. The term hardness has a different meaning in this project instead of the adjective meaning firm or stiff it deals with the components of water. More specifically when dealing with molecular structure, hardness is the concentrations of mineral ions like magnesium and calcium inside the water. I chose this project because hard water is everywhere and affects everyone yet everyone stays ignorant about it and the concept of hard water explains many other everyday phenomenon. Hard water is the cause of those spots on dishes fresh out the dishwasher, …show more content…
Hard water is water with mineral ions like calcium and magnesium inside of it. Ions are an atom or group of atoms that contain a charge. But to be more specific those ions are actually called cations which are positively charged ions. In the water cycle there is a stage called run off, that is the stage where a majority of hard water is created. After precipitation the water is seeping into things on and into the grounds. While the water is seeping into the ground it is also running over things like rocks that contain strong deposits of minerals. When that happens the waters …show more content…
When using the spring water I realized the relationship between hard water and soap. When water doesn’t have any minerals interfering with the mixing of soap it creates more bubble therefore the type of water that created the most amount of bubbles was the softest water. Then I thought how do water and soap react together and come out with bubbles. Later on I found out that soap molecules are made up of carbon and hydrogen molecules. One end of that molecule likes to be in water which is called hydrolyphic and the other end which like to connect to grease called the hydrophobic. The hydrophobic end easily attaches to greases which is a primary part in cleaning and doesn’t like water. So these two ends work together to clean by the hydrophobic end attaching to the grease and allowing the water to flood underneath the grease in order for the stain to be then carried away surround by soap molecules. But in a soap and water mixture there is no grease so the hydrophobic end of the molecules is trying to get out of the mixture. The farther the hydrophobic end gets away from the rest of the molecule the less surface tension and so as the hydrophobic end of the molecule arrives to the top a film is made created a bubble. Surface Tension is the tension of the surface film of a liquid caused by the attraction of the particles in the surface layer by the bulk of the liquid which tends to minimize surface area. So a great example to explain surface area would be