CONCENTRATION of SOLUTIONS

Concentration - expresses the amount of solute contained in a given amount of

solution.

Ways of expressing concentration:

1. Molarity (M) – moles of solute divided by the number of liters of solution

containing the solute.

M = mol of solute ____ = mmol of solute_____

vol. of soln. (liters) vol. of soln. (milliliters)

a. Analytical Molarity (sometimes referred to as Formality) - expresses the

total number of moles solute in one liter solution.

Example: A H2SO4 (aq) with analytical molarity of 1.0 M is prepared by

dissolving 1.0 mole or 98 g H 2SO4 in water and diluting the solution to
exactly 1.0 L

b. Equilibrium or Species Molarity - expresses the molar concentration of a

particular specie in a solution at equilibrium

Example:
The species molarity of H2SO4 (aq) with an analytical molarity of 1.0 M are:

H2SO4 = 0.00 M, because H2SO4 is entirely ionized in solution:

Ka1>>>; Ka2 = 1 x 10 -2)
H3O+ = 1.01 M
HSO4- = 0.99 M
SO4- = 0.01 M

2. Normality (N) – no. of equivalents (eqv) of solute divided by the number of liters of
solution containing the solute

N = eqv. of solute = meqv. of solute

Liter solution mL solution

Where

No. of equivalent = mass in grams

EW

EW = MW
h
 h (eqv/mol) –depends on the chemical reaction in which a substance is
involved

a. oxidation-reduction (redox) reaction - h equals the number of electrons

gained or lost in the reaction by one ion or molecule of a substance; h is
determined from the balanced redox half reaction for the substance of
interest.

Ex. 5Fe2+ + MnO4- + 8H+  5Fe3+ + Mn2+ + 4H2O

For iron : Fe2+  Fe3+ + e-

 h is 1 for both Fe2+ and Fe3+

For manganese: MnO4- + 5e-  Mn2+

 h is 5 for both MnO4- and Mn2+

b. nonredox reactions - h equals the ionic charge either positive or negative; h

is best determined by counting the number of univalent cations or their
equivalent, consumed or produced by one ion or molecule of substance.

(1) for acids - h is equal to the number of H+ that will react

Ex. HCl : h = 1 in the reaction
HCl + NaOH  NaCl + H2O

H2SO4 : h = 2 in the reaction

H2SO4 + 2NaOH  Na2SO4 + 2H2O

H3PO4 : h = 1 in the reaction

H3PO4 + NaOH  NaH2PO4 + H2O
h = 2 in the reaction
H3PO4 2NaOH  Na2HPO4 + 2H2O

h = 3 in the reaction
H3PO4 + 3NaOH  Na3PO4 + 3H2O

(2) for bases - h is equal to the number of OH- that will react

Ex. NaOH : h = 1 as seen in the previous reactions

Ca(OH)2 : h = 2 in the reaction

2HCl + Ca(OH)2  CaCl2 + 2H2O

(3) for salts - h is equal to the number of total (+) charges of the metal ion
or equal to the number of total (-) charges of the non - metal ion or (-)
polyatomic ion
 Ex. NaCl : h = 1
K2SO4 : h = 2
Al2(SO4)3 : h = 6

Normality vs. Molarity

Since MW is related to EW, molarity is also related to normality by the equation:

N=Mxh

3. Percent Concentration (pph)

a. Weight percent (w/w) = weight of solute in grams x 100%

weight of solution (grams)

b. Volume percent (v/v) = volume of solute in ml x 100%

volume of solution in ml

c. Weight-volume percent (w/v) = wt.of solute in gms x 100%

volume of soln. in ml

4. Parts per million (ppm) = weight of solute in grams x 106

weight solution (grams)

For a dilute aqueous solution, the solvent >>> solute ; density of solution is
almost equal to the density of the solvent (water) and therefore:

ppm = mgrams solute

L of solvent

5. Density and Specific Gravity of solutions

Density of solution = grams sol'n / mL sol'n

Sp. Gr. Of sol'n = Density of solution

Density of water

6. Solution - diluent volume ratios - the volume of a more concentrated solution

vs. the volume of the solvent used for dilution.

Ex. 1 : 4 HCl solution - is prepared by mixing 1 volume conc. HCl and 4 volumes
water

Sample Problem
A solution is prepared by diluting 10 ml of 70% by wt. Sulfuric acid solution with enough
water to give 250 ml solution. (density of 70% is 1.61 g/ml) Calculate the concentration
of the solution prepared in
a) molarity
b) normality
c) molality
d) ppm
Given: Reqd:
C1 = 70% H2SO4 a. M
V1 = 10 mL b. N
d1 = 1.61 g/mL c. m
V2 = 250 ml d. ppm

Soln:
n solute
a. M =
L soln

mass soln = d x V
1.61 g
= x 10 mL=16.1 g soln
1mL soln

70 g H 2 S O 4
mass solute = x 16. 1 g soln=11.27 g
100 g soln

1n H 2 S O 4
n solute=11.27 g x =0.115 mol
98 g H 2 S O4

0.115 mol
M= 0.46 mol/ L
0.250 L

no . of equivalents
b. N=
L soln

mass
no . of equivalents=
EW

2 equivalen ts
no . of equivalents=11.27 g x = 0.23 eqv
98 g

0.23 equivalent
N= = 0.92 eqv/L
0.25 L soln

mole solute
c. molality =
kg solvent

mass solvent = mass solvent initial + mass solvent added

 = (16.1 g – 11.27 g) + (250 ml – 10 ml) x 1g/ml
= 244.83 g = 0.2448 kg

0.115 mole solute

molality = =0.47 molal
0.2448 kg solvent

mg solute
d. ppm =
L soln
11,270 mg solute
ppm = = 45,080 ppm
0.250 L soln
CALCULATING AMOUNT AND CONCENTRATION

1. Preparation of Solution to be Standardized

a. From a pure solid

Ex: Explain how you would prepare 1 L of 0.1 M NaOH solution.

g NaOH = 0.1 mol/L x 1L = 0.1 mol x 40 g/mol = 4.0 g

b. By dilution

Ex: Explain how you would prepare 1L of 0.1M HCl solution from 12M HCl
solution?
Ci Vi = Cf Vf

2. Standardization

a. Against a primary standard

Ex: What is the true molarity of NaOH solution in 1-a. if 15.50 ml of it is required
to neutralized 0.3455 gram of KHP (MW= 204.224).

b. Against another standard solution

Ex: What is the true molarity of HCl in 1-b. if 1.117 ml of it is equivalent to 1 ml of

NaOH solution in 2-a.

c. By gravimetric method

Ex. Calculate the molarity of HCl solution if 50 ml of it will yield a 0.207 g BaCl 2
precipitate.

3. Selection of Sample Size to Give Proper Titration Volume

What weight of sample size should be taken for analysis so that the volume of
0.1074M NaOH used for titration equals the % of KHP in the sample?

1 KHP
M NaOH x V NaOH x x MW KHP
1 NaOH
%KHP= x 100 %
g sample

4. Calculation of the amount of an analyte

a. Direct titration method – the titrant reacts directly with the analyte
 Ex: What is the % of HC2H3O2 in a vinegar, a 5 grams sample of which requires
35.27 ml of 0.1M NaOH.

b. Indirect or Replacement method – employs a preliminary reaction in which the

analyte is replaced by an equivalent amount of another substance, which is then
determined by titration.

Ex: A sample of CuO weighing 2.013 grams is dissolved in acid and excess KI is
added, liberating I2. The liberated iodine is titrated with 29.68 ml of 0.1058
M Na2S2O3. Calculate the % CuO in the sample.
2Cu2+ + 4I- 2CuI + I2
2S2O32- + I2 S4O62- + 2I-

d. Back titration method – the analyte is found by difference; A known excess of

some reagent is added to the analyte solution, a portion of this reagent reacts
with the analyte, and the rest is determined by titration

Ex: A 25 ml of an HClO4 solution was titrated with 0.1032 M NaOH solution,

28.06 ml was added in excess, and it took 3.47 ml of 0.1094M HCl to back
titrate the NaOH, calculate the molar concentration of the HClO 4