Think of ice as a highly ordered crystalline solid in which the water molecules are able to bind strongly with each other. How strongly the molecules bind to each other determines how much energy, in the form of heat, will be required to break them apart.
Whether its ice or an altogether different type of solid, what happens when you disrupt these inter-molecular forces (i.e. hydrogen bonding, van der Walls forces, etc.) by introducing a second chemical substance? It requires less energy, less heat, to break apart the solid. Thus, it’s melting point is lowered. This is commonly known as "freezing point depression".
Think of ice as a highly ordered crystalline solid in which the water molecules are able to bind strongly with each other. How strongly the molecules bind to each other determines how much energy, in the form of heat, will be required to break them apart.
Whether its ice or an altogether different type of solid, what happens when you disrupt these inter-molecular forces (i.e. hydrogen bonding, van der Walls forces, etc.) by introducing a second chemical substance? It requires less energy, less heat, to break apart the solid. Thus, it’s melting point is lowered. This is commonly known as "freezing point depression".
@Sean, yes you are correct and I was wrong about the depression of the freezing point being restricted to involatile solutes. The depression is usually derived assuming an involatile solute via lowering of free energy but the final equations depend only on the solutes mole fraction not on its nature.More
@porphyrin: Elevation of boiling point only applies to nonvolatile (or less-volatile) solutes, but depression of freezing point applies no matter what the volatility of the solute.More
Think of ice as a highly ordered crystalline solid in which the water molecules are able to bind strongly with each other. How strongly the molecules bind to each other determines how much energy, in the form of heat, will be required to break them apart.
Whether its ice or an altogether different type of solid, what happens when you disrupt these inter-molecular forces (i.e. hydrogen bonding, van der Walls forces, etc.) by introducing a second chemical substance? It requires less energy, less heat, to break apart the solid. Thus, it’s melting point is lowered. This is commonly known as "freezing point depression".
Think of ice as a highly ordered crystalline solid in which the water molecules are able to bind strongly with each other. How strongly the molecules bind to each other determines how much energy, in the form of heat, will be required to break them apart.
Whether its ice or an altogether different type of solid, what happens when you disrupt these inter-molecular forces (i.e. hydrogen bonding, van der Walls forces, etc.) by introducing a second chemical substance? It requires less energy, less heat, to break apart the solid. Thus, it’s melting point is lowered. This is commonly known as "freezing point depression".
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