EXPRESSIONS OF

CONCENTRATIONS
Concentration of Solution

Solvent Solute
--- The mass or volume of the solute present in
a given amount of solvent or solution.

For example:
A 10 % aqueous solution of common salt
contain 10 g NaCl per 100 g of solution i.e 10 g
NaCl dissolved in 90 g water.
Numbers and Units
Measurable units used in analytical chemistry:

Mass (of solute)

Volume (of solvent)

Concentration (of solutions)

Concentration of Solutions
1. Molarity – number of moles of solute divided by
the number of liters of solution containing the
solute.
M = moles of solute/L of soln
= mmoles of solute/mL of soln
Moles = wt(g)/MW; where MW is the mol. wt.

M = (g/MW)/L of soln
• units of mol/liter
• abbreviated as molar or M
• used to calculate the volume of solvent or the amount
of solute.
• Advantages--- easy and convenient to use because the
solute may be measured in grams, converted into
moles, and mixed with a volume.
Molarity Example Problem 1
12.6 g of NaCl are dissolved in water making 344mL of
solution. Calculate the molar concentration.
moles solute
M=
L solution

 1 m o lN a C l 
1 2 .6 g N a C l  
NaCl 5 8 .4 4 g N a C l
=  
 1L 
344 m L   so lu tio n
 1000m L 

= 0.627 M NaCl
Drill
1. What is the molarity of a sodium hydroxide
solution prepared by dissolving 2.40 g of NaOH and
diluting to 500 mL with water?

2. How many grams of KMnO4 are needed to prepare

250 mL of a 0.100 M soln?
• Normality is a unit of concentration of a chemical solution expressed as gram equivalent
weight of solute per liter of solution. A defined equivalence factor must be used to
express concentration.

• Common units of normality include N, eq/L, or meq/L.

• Normality is the only unit of chemical concentration that depends on the chemical
reaction being studied.

• Normality is not the most common unit of concentration, nor is its use appropriate for all
chemical solutions. Typical situations when you might use normality include acid-base
chemistry, redox reactions, or precipitation reactions. For most other situations, molarity
or molality are better options for units.
Formula:

N= Equiv of solute/L of solution

Equiv = mol/replaceable H
= m/(mw/repH)
Equivalent -

The quantity of acid in an acid base reaction that

yields 1 mol of H+ ions.

or
The quantity of base that reacts with 1 mol H+ ions.

This definition depends on the chemical reaction you are

dealing with.
1 equivalent of acid

reacts with

1 equivalent of base.
Equivalent example #1:

HCl + NaOH NaCl + H2O

1 mol of HCl supplies 1 mol of H+ ions.

Therefore, 1 mol of HCl = 1 equivalent of HCl

AND
1 mol of NaOH reacts with 1 mol of H+ ions.
Therefore, 1 mol of NaOH = 1 equivalent of NaOH.
• Acid is a water-soluble compounds having a sour taste
and capable of turning litmus red and reacting with a
base to form a salt. In other word, it is a compound
which contains replaceable hydrogen atom or atoms, a
part or whole of which can be replaced by means of a
metal or a positive radical.
• For Example: HCl, HNO3, H2SO4 etc are acids because
they contain replaceable hydrogen atom or atoms.
Replaceable Hydrogen

Identify the number of replaceable hydrogen ions(H+) in the following

acids:
(i) HCl =1

(ii) CH3COOH =3

(iii)H2SO4 =2

(iv) H3PO4 =3
 Relationship between Normality and Molarity

Normality = # of eq. of solute x molarity of solution

Convert the following Molarities to Normalities.

a. 2.5 M HCl = 2.5
____________ N
2.8
b. 1.4 M H2SO4 = ____________ N
FORMULA:
• Normality = equivalent weight of solute
L of solution

= (mol/ replaceable #)
L of solution

= (m/(mw/replaceable H)
L of solution

= (g/(molar mass/replaceable H)
L of solution
Example:
What is the normality for a solution with 0.587 g
of NaOH in 25.7 mL?
N = g / (molar mass / eq. wt.)
L

N = (0.587 g/ 40 g/mol / 1)
0.0257 L

N = 0.57 or 1
Sample Problem
1. Calculate the normality of a solution containing 2.45 g of sulfuric
acid in 2.00 L of solution.

2. How many grams of hydrochloric acid are contained in 2.00 L of

0.500 N solution?
3. Percent – amount of analyte per 100 of a sample

wt. percent (w/w) = (wt. analyte/wt sample) x 100

vol. percent (v/v) = (vol. analyte/vol. sample) x 100

wt./ vol. percent (w/v) = weight solute, g x 100%

volume solution, mL

REMINDER:

mass of solution = mass of solute + mass solvent

Examples
A sample of copper ore weighing 1.35 g contains
62.0 mg of copper. What is the wt.% Cu in ore?
GIVEN:

wt. analyte = 0.062 g

wt. sample = 1.35 g
SOLUTION:

wt. percent (w/w) = (wt. analyte/wt sample) x 100

wt. percent = (0.062 g / 62.0 g ) x 100
wt. percent = 0.1 %
DRILL
What is the percent by mass of a solution that contains
26.5 g of glucose in 500 g of solution?

How would you prepare 250 mL of 70 % (v/v) of

rubbing alcohol?
3. Parts per million (ppm)
• A weight to weight ratio used to describe concentrations.
• used to measure the concentration of a contaminant in soils and
sediments.
• sometimes used to describe small concentrations in water
• think about this; 1ppm = 1 inch in 16 miles
• formula:

ppm = (wt. analyte/wt. sample) x 106

ppb = (wt. analyte/wt. sample) x 109
 The units ppm or ppb are used to express trace concentrations.
These are weigh or volume based, rather than mole based.

©Gary Christian, Analytical Chemistry, 6th Ed. (Wiley)

TAKE NOTE:

• Used for very dilute solutions (for example pollutants in drinking

water). Notice that mass percent could also be called parts per
hundred.
When the solution is so dilute that is in few ppm or less, the
solution is nearly pure solvent, and hence the density of the
solution is essentially equal to that of water,
d=1.00 g/mL.

Therefore 1.0 L of solution weighs 1.0 kg.

ppm = (kg analyte/kg sample) x 106

= (kg analyte/L soln) x 106
= mg analyte/L soln
 Examples:
What is the concentration of a solution, in parts per million,
if 0.02 gram of NaCl is dissolved in 1000 grams of solution?

GIVEN:

wt. analyte = 0.02 g of NaCl

wt. sample = 1000 g of solution

SOLUTION:
ppm = (wt. analyte/wt. sample) x 106
ppm = (0.02 g / 1000 g) x 106
ppm = 20
DRILL
35 grams of ethanol is dissolved in 115 grams of water.
What is the concentration of ethanol in parts per billion
(ppb)?
Dilutions
• Adding solvent to a solution resulting to lower concentration.
• A practical way of preparing dilute concentration of solutions in the
lab
C1V1 = C2V2
• where C is concentration, and V is volume, and the subscripts 1 and 2
refer to the initial and final values.
Examples
• How many milliliters of 5.5 M NaOH are needed to
prepare 300 mL of 1.2 M NaOH?
GIVEN: SOLUTION:

C1 = 5.5 M C1V1 = C2V2

C2 = 1.2 M
(5.5 M) V1 = (1.2M)(300ml)
V1 = ?
V2 = 300 ml (5.5 M) V1 = 360 M/ml

V1 = 360 M/ml
5.5 M
V1 = 65.45 ml
DRILL
How many mL of water must be added to 75-mL 2.8 M of NaOH so that
the new molarity will be 0.8.
DENSITY versus SPECIFIC GRAVITY
The density of a substance:
• is a concrete number (1.8 g/mL in the example),

• varies with the units of measure used

• the density of water may be variously expressed as 1

g/mL, 1000 g/L, or 62½ lb/cu ft,
EXAMPLES:
• Density may be calculated by dividing mass by volume, that is:
Density=mass/volume (D=M/V)

• Thus, if 10 mL of sulfuric acid weigh 18 g, its density is:

density = 18 (g)/10 (mL) = 1.8 g per mL
Specific gravity:
• a ratio between like quantities, is an abstract number
(1.8 in the example).
• has no dimension and is therefore a constant value
for each
• substance (when measured under controlled
conditions).
• the specific gravity of water is always 1.
Calculating the Specific Gravity of Liquids
Examples: If 54.96 mL of an oil weigh 52.78 g, what is the
specific gravity of the oil?

• 54.96 mL of water weigh 54.96 g

• Specific gravity of oil = 52.78 g/54.96 = 0.9603, answer.
Density Calculations
How do we convert to Molarity
• Density = mass solute /unit volume

• Specific Gravity = Dsolute/DH20

• DH2O = 1.00000 g/mL @ 4oC

• DH2O = 0.99821 g/mL @ 20oC