Video: Salt, Solvent, Tail, and Unsaturated – Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards based on the notes. Terms include salt, solvent, neutral solvent, tail, solvent front, unsaturated, saturated solution, and Rf.

Salt

A compound formed from the neutralization of an acid with a base; in aqueous solution, salts dissociate into ions.

Solvent

A substance capable of dissolving another substance (the solute) to form a solution; usually present in greater amount.

Neutral solvent

A solvent with no significant acidic or basic properties; a neutral medium (pH around 7) in solution.

Tail (chromatography)

The trailing edge of a chromatographic peak; tailing occurs when a solute interacts strongly with the stationary phase, creating an asymmetric peak.

Solvent front

The leading edge of the moving solvent on a chromatographic plate as it travels up the stationary phase.

Unsaturated

In chemistry, containing one or more double or triple bonds (or, for solutions, capable of dissolving more solute at a given temperature).

Saturated solution

A solution that contains the maximum amount of solute that can dissolve at a given temperature; adding more solute results in undissolved material.

Rf (retention factor)

The ratio of the distance traveled by a solute to the distance traveled by the solvent front on a TLC plate.