Tamba, Miriam B.

2MBIO6

PROF. FRANCIS BINAS

Activity on Molarity
Website: https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/molarity/latest/molarity_en.html

Description: The Molarity simulation allows students to qualitatively and quantitatively explore the
relationships between moles, molarity and liters by varying the amount of solute and solution volume.
Students can choose from the variety of solutes to investigate. They can move the sliders up and down
and observe the effects on the concentration of the solutions. A conceptual understanding of
concentration is established before going into the calculations. The sim demonstrates saturation but
does not explain why different solutes have different solubilities.

Learning Outcomes:
- familiarization with the colors of the different chemicals
- explore the amount of solute needed to produce a specific concentration of a solution
- find out which among the given substances will have the highest or least solubility in water
- describe the relationship of the amount of solute, solution volume, color and concentration of the
solution

Model Simplifications
• Solution volume is the combined volume of solute and water.
• By design, not all solutions will reach saturation. The number of moles that can be added is limited to
the range of 0.2-1.0 moles so that students can explore some solutions for the full concentration range
(0-5 M).
• Drink mix is assumed to have the same solubility as sucrose.
• Solubility of each solution listed was calculated at 25°C, except for AuCl3 and Drink mix (sucrose),
which were based on data taken at 20°C.
• Precipitate will not appear until the amount of solute exceeds the concentration at saturation.

Activities:
Students can explore around with the simulations to find the following:

a) determine the relationship of amount of solute, solution volume, color and concentration

b) concentration of the saturated solutions of the different solutes

c) given a specific amount of solute, find the minimum volume of solution that will dissolve all of the

solutes

d) determine which among the given solute(s) has/have the highest or the lowest solubility in water

Guided activities:
1. Explore the simulation by moving the sliders one at a time. Observe the relationship between the
amount of solute, solution volume, color, and concentration.

2. Click on the “Solutions Value” to show the values for the solute and solution. Set the amount of
solute at 1.0 mol and the volume of the solution at 0.200L. Observe the appearance of each solution
by changing the solutes. Make an inference based on your observations.

 To start with the observation, the drink mix with a molarity of 5.000 M, has a red color
appearance and it appears to be unsaturated. Followed by cobalt nitrate, it also has the same
molarity, color appearance, and state of solution just like the drink mix. Next is the solute of
cobalt chloride that has a molarity of 4.350 M. Moreover, it has a pink appearance and for this
solute’s state of solution, it is saturated. To be followed by potassium dichromate, the molarity
is 0.500 M, with an orange appearance and it turns out to be saturated. Moving on with gold
chloride, this solute has a molarity of 2.250 M and similarly, the solute's state of solution is also
saturated. Meanwhile, potassium chromate’s molarity is 3.350 M with a yellow appearance and
likewise, it’s also saturated. Following with nickel chloride, its molarity is 5.000 M that has a
green color appearance and appears to be unsaturated. On the other hand, copper sulfate has a
molarity value of 1.400 M with a blue appearance and the solute’s state of solution is saturated.
Lastly, potassium permanganate’s molarity is 0.500 M. This solute has a purple color appearance
and it is also saturated. 
 3. Using copper(II) sulfate as the solute, set the mole at 1.0 mol. Note the concentration of the solution
at each volume of the solution:
0.200L 0.300L 0.400L 0.500L 0.600L 0.700L 0.800L 0.900L
Molarity 1.400 M 1.400 M 1.400 M 1.400 M 1.400 M 1.400 M 1.250 M 1.111 M

State of the
solution Saturated Saturated Saturated Saturated Saturated Saturated Unsaturated Unsaturated
(saturated or
unsaturated)

What can you infer on the above data? Relate the mole to the volume of the solution and to the
concentration.

 Based on the data above, I’ve noticed that setting the mole at 1.0 mol almost gives you the same
exact value of molarity for all the volumes of solution indicated in the table. By setting the mole
at 1.0 and by testing it with the volume of 0-200 L up to 0- 700 L, it gives you the same exact
value which is 1.400 M and the state of solution would be saturated. Meanwhile, for the last
two volumes of solution which are 0.800 and 0.900, I've noticed that the molarity value is
different, and the state of solution appears to be unsaturated. Therefore, it concludes that the
higher the molarity value, the more it appears to be saturated and the lower the molarity value,
the more it appears to be unsaturated. 

What is the minimum volume of solution that will dissolve the 1.0 mole of copper(II) sulfate to produce
a saturated solution?

 The minimum volume of solution to dissolve a 1.0 mole of copper sulfate to produce a saturated
solution is 0.200 L. With this minimum volume of solution, it can surely dissolve 1.0 mole of
copper sulfate in order for it to produce a saturated solution.