GlossariesGCSE GlossariesGCSE Chemistry GlossarySalty Water

Salty Water - GCSE Chemistry Definition

Reviewed by: Richard Boole

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Salty water, or saline water, is water that contains a significant amount of dissolved salts, mainly sodium chloride (NaCl)—the same salt used in food.

A common example is seawater, which has an average salinity of about 35 parts per thousand. Salty water covers most of Earth’s surface and plays an important role in the water cycle and marine ecosystems.

In GCSE Chemistry, salty water is important for understanding:

  • Desalination, where salt is removed to make water potable

  • Reactions in solutions, including electrolysis of salt solutions

  • How dissolved substances affect boiling and freezing points

Understanding salty water helps students explore how chemistry is used to manage Earth’s resources and make unsafe water usable.

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Richard Boole

Reviewer: Richard Boole

Expertise: Chemistry Content Creator

Richard has taught Chemistry for over 15 years as well as working as a science tutor, examiner, content creator and author. He wasn’t the greatest at exams and only discovered how to revise in his final year at university. That knowledge made him want to help students learn how to revise, challenge them to think about what they actually know and hopefully succeed; so here he is, happily, at SME.

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