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IV: Solutions

  • Page ID
    43411
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    In chemistry, a solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of two or more substances. In such a mixture, a solute is a substance dissolved in another substance, known as a solvent.

    • 4.0: Types of Solutions - Some Terminology
      In all solutions, whether gaseous, liquid, or solid, the substance present in the greatest amount is the solvent, and the substance or substances present in lesser amounts are the solute(s). The solute does not have to be in the same physical state as the solvent, but the physical state of the solvent usually determines the state of the solution. As long as the solute and solvent combine to give a homogeneous solution, the solute is said to be soluble in the solvent.
    • 4.1: Composition of Solutions
      Solutions are homogeneous mixtures of two or more substances whose components are uniformly distributed on a microscopic scale. The component present in the greatest amount is the solvent, and the components present in lesser amounts are the solute(s). The formation of a solution from a solute and a solvent is a physical process, not a chemical one. Substances that are miscible, such as gases, form a single phase in all proportions when mixed. Substances that form separate phases are immiscible.
    • 4.2: Nature of Dissolved Species
      The solubility of a substance is the maximum amount of a solute that can dissolve in a given quantity of solvent; it depends on the chemical nature of both the solute and the solvent and on the temperature and pressure. When a solution contains the maximum amount of solute that can dissolve under a given set of conditions, it is a saturated solution. Otherwise, it is unsaturated. Supersaturated solutions, which contain more dissolved solute than allowed under particular conditions, are unstable.
    • 4.3: Phase Equilibrium in Solutions - Nonvolatile Solutes
      Colligative properties of a solution depend on only the total number of dissolved particles in solution, not on their chemical identity. Colligative properties include vapor pressure, boiling point, freezing point, and osmotic pressure. The addition of a nonvolatile solute (one without a measurable vapor pressure) decreases the vapor pressure of the solvent. The vapor pressure of the solution is proportional to the mole fraction of solvent in the solution, a relationship known as Raoult’s law.
    • 4.4: Phase Equilibrium in Solutions - Volatile Solutes
      The solubility of most substances depends strongly on the temperature and, in the case of gases, on the pressure. The solubility of most solid or liquid solutes increases with increasing temperature. The components of a mixture can often be separated using fractional crystallization, which separates compounds according to their solubilities. The solubility of a gas decreases with increasing temperature. Henry’s law describes the relationship between the pressure and the solubility of a gas.
    • 4.5: Separating Volatile Solutions - Distillation
      Distillation is a process whereby a mixture of liquids having different vapor pressures is separated into its components. Since distillation depends on the different vapor pressures of the components to be separated, let's first consider the vapor pressure vs. composition plots for a hypothetical mixture at some arbitrary temperature at which both liquid and gas phases can exist, depending on the total pressure.
    • 4.6: Colloidal Suspensions
      A colloid can be classified as a sol, a dispersion of solid particles in a liquid or solid; a gel, a semisolid sol in which all of the liquid phase has been absorbed by the solid particles; an aerosol, a dispersion of solid or liquid particles in a gas; or an emulsion, a dispersion of one liquid phase in another. A colloid can be distinguished from a true solution by its ability to scatter a beam of light, known as the Tyndall effect.
    • 4.E: Solutions (Exercises)
      These are homework exercises to accompany the Textmap created for "Principles of Modern Chemistry" by Oxtoby et al.


    IV: Solutions is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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