Skip to main content
Chemistry LibreTexts

11: Solutions

  • Page ID
    41488
  • \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    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.
    • 11.1: 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.
    • 11.2: 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.
    • 11.3: Reaction Stoichiometry in Solutions: Acid-Base Titrations
      A titration curve is a graph that relates the change in pH of an acidic or basic solution to the volume of added titrant. The characteristics of the titration curve are dependent on the specific solutions being titrated. The pH of the solution at the equivalence point may be greater than, equal to, or less than 7.00. The choice of an indicator for a given titration depends on the expected pH at the equivalence point of the titration, and the range of the color change of the indicator.
    • 11.4: Reaction Stoichiometry in Solutions: Oxidation-Reduction Titrations
      Redox titration are here the titrant is an oxidizing or reducing agent. In contrast to acid/base titrations, it is convenient for redox titrations to monitor the titration reaction’s potential instead of the concentration of one species.
    • 11.5: 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.
    • 11.6: Phase Equilibrium in Solutions - Volatile Solutes
      In contrast, the solubility of gases increases as the partial pressure of the gas above a solution increases. Hence, the effect of increased pressure on the dynamic equilibrium that is established between the dissolved gas molecules in solution and the molecules in the gas phase above the solution. Because the concentration of molecules in the gas phase increases with increasing pressure, the concentration of dissolved gas molecules in
    • 11.7: 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.
    • 11.E: Solutions (Exercises)
      These are homework exercises to accompany the Textmap created for "Principles of Modern Chemistry" by Oxtoby et al.


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

    • Was this article helpful?