Solutions Chemistry Notes
Solutions
Objectives
- Describe energy changes during the solution process (solute-solute, solvent-solvent, solute-solvent attractive forces) and the role of disorder.
- Define mass percentage, parts per million, mole fraction, molarity, and molality.
- Calculate concentrations using these units.
- Define solution-related terms: solvent, solute, hydration, miscible, saturated, etc.
- Convert between concentration units (given solution density).
- Determine if a mixture is saturated, supersaturated, or unsaturated, and calculate undissolved solid amount.
- Relate solubility to molecular structures and intermolecular forces; predict relative solubility in specific solvents.
- Describe effects of pressure and temperature on solubility of solids and gases, including Henry's Law.
- Describe effects of dissolved particle concentration on vapor pressure, boiling point, freezing point, and osmotic pressure; calculate colligative properties from concentration data.
- Estimate the van't Hoff i factor from a compound's formula.
- Determine concentration and molar mass of nonvolatile nonelectrolytes or electrolytes from colligative properties.
- Predict the lowest/highest freezing or boiling point among compounds (including electrolytes) given their molality.
Solution Vocabulary
- Solution: Solute + Solvent
- A uniform or homogenous mixture.
Examples of Different Types of Solutions
- Solid in solid: Brass (zinc and copper mixture)
- Solid in liquid: Sugar water
- Liquid in solid: Mercury in silver (dental amalgam)
- Liquid in liquid: Gasoline (hydrocarbon mixture)
- Gas in solid: Hydrogen in platinum
- Gas in liquid: Carbonated soft drinks (CO₂ in water)
- Gas in gas: Air (O₂ in N₂)
\"Like Dissolves Like\"
- Solvents dissolve solutes with similar Intermolecular Forces (IMFs).
- Polar solvents dissolve ionic and polar solutes (permanent charges).
- Nonpolar solvents dissolve nonpolar solutes (instantaneous charges).
Choosing the Best Solvent
- Examples:
- Ammonia (NH₃) - Water (H₂O)
- Hexane (C₆H₁₄) - C₈H₁₈
- CaCl₂ - Water
Saturation Vocabulary Roundup
- Unsaturated: Less than the maximum solute amount is dissolved.
- Saturated: The maximum solute amount is dissolved; solid remains at the bottom. Equilibrium exists.
- Supersaturated: More than the maximum solute amount is dissolved; unstable.
- Steps:
- Break solvent-solvent interactions.
- Break solute-solute interactions.
- Form solute-solvent interactions.
- Pure solute and solvent → Solution
- ΔH<em>solution=ΔH</em>1+ΔH<em>2+ΔH</em>3
- ΔS is so large that ΔG<0 even when ΔH>0.
Supersaturated Solutions
- Unstable; created by \"tricking\" the solution via heating to dissolve more solute.
- Crystallization is induced by a seed crystal or tapping.
More Solution Vocabulary
- Miscible: Two liquids completely soluble in each other (similar IMFs), e.g., acetic acid and water (hydrogen bonding).
- Immiscible: Two liquids not soluble (dissimilar IMFs), e.g., oil and water (London dispersion forces and hydrogen bonding).
Solubility and Temperature
- Graphs show the solubility of different compounds at different temperatures.
- Solubility is expressed as grams of solute per 100 g of water.
- Example compounds: KNO<em>3, sucrose (C</em>12H<em>22O</em>11), NaNO<em>3, CaCl</em>2, NaCl, KBr, KCl, KClO<em>3, K</em>2Cr<em>2O</em>7, Ce<em>2(SO</em>4)3
Solids vs. Gases
- Solids: Solubility generally increases with increasing temperature.
- Gases: Solubility generally decreases with increasing temperature.
- Gases include methane, oxygen, carbon monoxide, nitrogen, helium.
Solubility and Pressure
- Solids: Solubility is generally not affected by pressure.
- Gases: Solubility generally increases with increasing pressure.
Henry's Law
- The linear relationship between pressure and gas solubility:
- S<em>g=kP</em>g
- Sg = solubility of the gas in the solution
- Pg = partial pressure of the gas over the solution
- k = Henry's law constant (varies with each solute-solvent pair)
- As pressure doubles, solubility doubles.
Example: Henry's Law
- A sealed carbonated soda has a CO₂ partial pressure of 4.0 atm at 25°C; the CO₂ concentration is 0.14 M.
- Calculate Henry's Law constant for CO₂ in water at 25°C.
- Find the CO₂ concentration after opening when it equilibrates at a partial pressure of 3.0×10−4 atm.
Curve Fitting
- Scientific data often match a standard curve shape (line, parabola, exponential, or logarithmic).
- Historically, lines were easiest to work with; data would be mathematically manipulated to convert curves to lines.
- The slope of the line often has meaning.
Conditions for Dissolving Maximum Solute
- Gases: Low temperature, high pressure
- Solids: High temperature, pressure doesn't matter
Concentration Units
- Molarity (M)
- Molality (m)
- Percent
- ppm (parts per million)
- ppb (parts per billion)
- Normality
- Osmolarity
- Mole Fraction
Molarity (M)
- M=liters of solutionmoles of solute
Molarity Example
- How many grams of glucose (C<em>6H</em>12O6, molar mass 180.18 g/mol) are needed to make 250 mL of 0.15 M aqueous solution?
Molality (m)
- m=kilograms of solventmoles of solute
- Needed for freezing point depression lab.
Molality Example
- How many grams of glucose (C<em>6H</em>12O<em>6) are needed to dissolve in 563 grams of ethanol (C</em>2H5OH) to prepare a 0.0240 m solution?
Percent by Mass
- mass%=total mass of solutionmass of solute×100
Mole Fraction (X)
- X=total moles of solutionmoles of solute
Example: Mole Fraction, Mass Percent
- A solution contains 0.100 mol NaCl in 8.60 mol water. Find the mole fraction and mass percent of NaCl (molar mass of NaCl = 58.44 g).
Density of Solution
- D=volume of solutionmass of solution
Concentration Conversions
- Convert concentration from one set of units to another (e.g., molarity to molality); density is often given.
- Look at the denominator unit (not density). Pick an "easy" amount to work with based on this.
- Perform calculations based on this amount.
- Molarity: 1 L of solution
- Molality: 1 kg of solvent
- Mass %: 100 g of solution
- Some problems give a fixed amount to begin with (mass of solute and solvent) instead of concentration. In this case, you don't need to make assumptions.
3-2-1 Table for Conversions
- 3 Masses: Mass of solute, mass of solvent, mass of solution
- 2 Moles: Moles of solute, moles of solvent
- 1 Volume: Volume of solution
- Fill in any pieces of the table that you can to find a clear path from given information to the target concentration unit.
Conversion Example
- An 8.00 mass % aqueous solution of ammonia has a density of 0.9651 g/mL. Calculate the molality, molarity, and mole fraction.
Colligative Properties
- Depend on the concentration of solution, not the nature of the solute or solvent.
- Freezing point depression
- Boiling point elevation
- Vapor pressure lowering
- Osmotic pressure
Freezing Point Depression
- ΔT<em>f=T</em>f,solvent−T<em>f,solution=iK</em>fm
- i = van't Hoff factor
- Kf = freezing point depression constant
- m = molality
Van't Hoff i Factor
- i=Moles of solute dissolvedMoles of particles in solution
- Examples:
- Glucose C<em>6H</em>12O6(s)→i=1
- NaCl(s)→i=2
- BaCl2(s)→i=3
- AlCl3(s)→i=4
Kf
- Freezing point depression constant depends on the solvent, not the solute.
Boiling Point Elevation
- ΔT<em>b=T</em>b,solution−T<em>b,solvent=iK</em>bm
- Boiling point works in the opposite direction from freezing point. Add ΔT<em>b to T</em>b.
- The biggest i×m has the highest boiling point.
Example: Freezing and Boiling Points
- What are the boiling point and freezing point of a solution made by dissolving 1000 grams of ethylene glycol (antifreeze, C<em>2H</em>6O2) in a car radiator containing 4450 grams of water?
- Kf (water) = 1.86 °C/m
- Kb (water) = 0.52 °C/m
Comparing Freezing Points
- Which aqueous solution will have the lowest freezing point?
- Pure water
- 0.2 m sucrose
- 0.2 m NaCl
- 0.15 m K<em>2SO</em>4
Molar Mass by Freezing Point Depression
- MM=mass of solvent (kg)×ΔT</em>fmass of unknown (g)×K<em>f
Example: Molar Mass
- 1.22 g of a white solid (suspected pure cocaine) is dissolved in 15.60 g of benzene; the freezing point is lowered by 1.32 °C. Calculate the molar mass of the solid (Kf for benzene = 5.12 °C/m).