Study unit 6: Solutions and expression of

concentrations
Solutions such as liquids consist mainly of two components: solvent (mainly water) and a
solute (example, salt or sugar).

The solute (e.g, salt) is dissolved in the solvent (e.g, water) and there is usually more solvent than solute to give
a homogeneous mixture.

The composition of solutions (the amount of both solute and solvent) can be measured in molarity, molality,
mass percentage, mole fraction, mole percentage, normality and so on.

These will be discussed in the next slides:

 Solutions
• The relative amount of a given solution component is known as its concentration
(used to determine the amount of both solute and solvent in a mixture, e.g
solution).

• A solution contains one component (solvent) with a concentration that is

significantly greater than that of all other components (e.g, solute dissolved in a
solvent).

• A solution in which water is the solvent is called an aqueous solution, and its
phase given as (aq) in a chemical reaction.

• Solute concentrations are often described with qualitative terms such as dilute
(of relatively low concentration, amounts) and concentrated (of relatively high
concentration, very high amount).
• Molarity (M) is a useful concentration unit for many applications in chemistry,
and is defined as the number of moles of solute in exactly 1 liter (1 L) of the
solution: mol/L or mol L-1
 Examples

• Example 3.14

• A 355-mL soft drink sample contains 0.133 mol of sucrose (table

sugar). What is the molar concentration of sucrose in the beverage?

• Divide 355 mL by 1000 to give 0.355 L.

Example 3.15

• How much sugar (in mol) is contained in a 10 mL (0.010 L) of the soft

drink with molar concentration of 0.375 M (or mol L-1)?

• Rearranging the equation for Molarity, we obtain : mol solute = M × L

solution.

• Then:
Example 3.16
• A 0.500-L vinegar solution contains 25.2 g of acetic acid. What is the
concentration of the acetic acid solution in units of molarity?
• 1: 1st calculate the molar mass of acetic acid (CH3CO2H) = 60.052
g/mol
• 2: Calculate the number of moles of CH3CO2H: 25.2g /60.052 g.mol-1 =
0.419 mol

• Then the concentration of the acetic acid solution in units of molarity

is = 0.42 mol / 0.500-L = 0.839 mol L-1.
 Example 3.17
• How many grams of NaCl are contained in 0.250 L of a 5.30-M (or mol L-1)
solution?

• You need calculate the moles 1st from given information, and finally the mass
• Moles = Molarity (mol L-1) x volume (in Liters, L): note the units cancel, so that
you obtain the moles
• Mass = moles x Molar mass
 Example 3.18
• In Example 3.16, the concentration of acetic acid in white vinegar was
determined to be 0.839 M. What volume of vinegar contains 75.6 g
of acetic acid?

• Use Molar mass of acetic acid (60.052 g/mol) and the given mass
(75.6 g) to get the moles: 75.6 g / 60.052 g.mol-1 = 1.259 mol.

• Then volume : V = 1.259 mol / 0.839 mo L-1 = 1.50 L.

 Dilution of Solutions
• Dilution is the process whereby the concentration of a solution is
lessened by the addition more of solvent.

• The dilution equation is often written in the more general form:

• C1 V1 = C2 V2,

• where C and V are concentration and volume, respectively.

 Examples:
• If 0.850 L of a 5.00-M solution of copper nitrate, Cu(NO3)2, is diluted
to a volume of 1.80 L by the addition of water, what is the molarity of
the diluted solution?
What volume of 0.12 M HBr can be prepared from 11 mL (0.011 L)
of 0.45 M HBr?
What volume of 1.59 M KOH is required to prepare 5.00 L of 0.100
M KOH?
 Other Units for Solution Concentrations

• Mass Percentage: The mass percentage of a solution component is

defined as the ratio of the component’s mass to the solution’s mass,
expressed as a percentage:

The most common symbol for mass percentage: %mass, %weight, and (w/w)%.
Examples:
• A 5.0-g sample of spinal fluid contains 3.75 mg (0.00375 g) of glucose.
What is the percent by mass of glucose in spinal fluid?
“Concentrated” hydrochloric acid is an aqueous solution of 37.2% HCl that is commonly used as a
laboratory reagent. The density of this solution is 1.19 g/mL. What mass of HCl is contained in 0.500 L
of this solution?

Note that in above, 37.2% HCl , means 37.2 g of HCl in 100 g of solution
 Volume Percentage
• The concentration of a solution formed by dissolving a liquid solute in
a liquid solvent is therefore often expressed as a volume percentage,
%vol or (v/v)%:

Rubbing alcohol (isopropanol) is usually sold as a 70%vol aqueous solution. If the density of
isopropyl alcohol is 0.785 g/mL, how many grams of isopropyl alcohol are present in a 355 mL
bottle of rubbing alcohol?
Mass-Volume Percentage
• A mass-volume percent is a ratio of a solute’s mass to the solution’s
volume expressed as a percentage.

• For example, physiological saline solution, used to prepare

intravenous fluids, has a concentration of 0.9% mass/volume (m/v),
indicating that the composition is 0.9 g of solute per 100 mL of
solution.
Parts per Million and Parts per Billion
• Very low solute concentrations are often expressed using
appropriately small units such as parts per million (ppm) or parts per
billion (ppb).
Examples:
• According to the EPA, when the concentration of lead in tap water
reaches 15 ppb, certain remedial actions must be taken.

• 1.What is this concentration in ppm?

• 2. At this concentration, what mass of lead (μg) would be contained in

a typical glass of water (300 mL)?
1.What is this concentration in ppm?

• ppm is 1000 times greater than ppb (1 ppm = 103 ppb).

• So if 1 ppm = 103 ppb = 1000 ppb

• Then y (unknown) = 15 ppb

• Cross multiple gives: y = (1 ppm x 15 ppb) / 103 ppb = 0.015 ppm

At this concentration, what mass of lead (μg) would be contained in a typical glass of water
(300 mL)?

• Assume that density of water is (~1.00 g/mL) at room temperature

• Then 300 ml = 300 g (density = mass / volume)

• Then using the equation for ppb above;
 MOLE FRACTION
• The mole fraction of a component of a solution is usually denoted by
the symbol X, with a subscript to indicate the component of interest
(e.g. XNaOH)

• The mole fraction of a component of a solution is defined as:

where ncomponent is the number of moles of the component of interest, and ntotal is the total
number of moles of all the components in the solution.

Suppose a solution has two components A and B. If A has nA moles and B has nB moles, then
ntotal = nA + nB

Then XA = nA / (nA + nB ), and XB = nB / (nA + nB )

Mole fraction is a dimensionless number (without units). The sum of all mole fractions
of components in a solution must equal 1, i,e, XA + XB = 1
 MOLALITY (m) and Molarity (M)
• Molarity (M) has one disadvantage, namely that it varies with a
change in temperature because the expansion and contraction of the
solution with varying temperatures causes the volume to change.

• If the temperature changes during the reaction, it is more convenient

to use molality to express the concentration. The molality (m) of a
solution is defined as the amount of solute (in moles) divided by
kilograms of solvent.

Note that molality (mol.kg-1) is the number of moles of solute per kilogram of solvent, not per kilogram of
solution.
 NORMALITY (N)
• Normality takes into consideration the number of electrons that are
exchanged. If you have a solution that has a 1 molarity but 2 electrons are
exchanged for every mole, you have a solution that is twice as powerful as
a solution that only exchanges 1 electron.

• Normality (N) = molarity (M) × electrons exchanged.

• Consider a 2M NaOH solution. How would we calculate its normality?

• Na has 1 electron which it gives to OH to become Na+ and OH-
respectively. Thus, 1 electron is exchanged and the normality of the
solution is equal to the molarity of the solution:

N = 2.0 M x 1
=2N
Exercise 6.6 (study guide)
• What is the normality of a 3.0 M solution of H2SO4? (Assume both
protons are lost.)

• Normality (N) = molarity (M) x electrons exchanged

• Each hydrogen has 1 electron which it gives to the sulphate to
become (2 × H+) and SO42- respectively. Thus, 2 electrons are
exchanged.

• Normality (N) = 3.0 M × 2

• =6N