GENERAL CHEMISTRY 2

Instructor: Dr.Pham Thi Bich Van

DH19TP_GROUP 1
Nguyen Thi Ngoc Han 19125513
Nguyen Thi Hoang Luong 19125517
Tran Thu Thao 19125530
Tran Thi Hai Yen 19125539
 Module 2:
Solution and their physical
properties
 Presentation Outline
1 Describe the solution.
5 Describe how temperature and
pressure affect solubility.

2 6
Express concentrations of Describe the four colligative
solutions in terms of molality and properties of solutions and some of
mole fraction. their applications.

7
Carry out calculations involving the four

3
Describe the factors that favor the colligative properties of solutions: lowering
dissolution process. of vapor pressure , boiling point elevation,
freezing point depression and osmotic
pressure.

4
Describe the dissolution of solids in

8
Use colligative properties to
liquids, liquids in liquids, and gases in determine molecular weights of
liquids. compound.
What is solution?
Definition of solution

• A solution is defined as a
homogeneous mixture of
substances in which no settling
occurs.
• A solution consists of a solvent and
one or more solutes,
whose proportions vary from one
solution to another.
• The solvent is the medium in
which the solutes are
dissolved. The fundamental units of
solutes are usually ions
or molecules.
Solubility
• Solubility of a substance is defined as the amount of the substance that will dissolve in
a particular solvent.
• Solubilities vary tremendously.
• At one extreme, some substances form solutions in all proportions and are said to be
miscible. For example, acetone and water can be mixed in any proportion, from pure
water to pure acetone.
• At the other extreme, a substance may be insoluble in another. One example is
common salt, NaCl, whose solubility in gasoline is virtually zero.
 Solubility is based on:
Pressure applied Temperature of Nature of the solvent
to the system the solution and solute interaction.
Determinants of solubility

• Many combinations display solubility that is between the two extremes of miscible and
insoluble. In other words, the substance dissolves, but there is a limit to the amount of
solute that will dissolve in a given amount of solvent.

• Concentrations of solutions are expressed in terms of either the amount of solute

present in a given mass or volume of solution, or the amount of solute dissolved in a
given mass or volume of solvent.
 Solution Concentration

Concentration is the amount of solute in a given

volume of solution.
• Concentration solution has a large amount of
solute per volume
• Dillute solution has a small amount of solute
 How to measure the
concentration of a
substance in a solution?
 Percent by mass
Concentrations of solutions may be expressed in terms of percent by mass of solute,
which gives the mass of solute per 100 mass units of solution. The gram is the usual
mass unit.

x 100
For example, a solution that is 10% calcium gluconate Ca(C6H11O7)2 ,by mass contains 10
grams of Ca(C6H11O7)2 in 100 grams of solution. This could be described as 10 grams of
calcium gluconate in 90 grams of water.
 Percent by volume

x 100
 Parts per Million, Parts per Billion, and Parts per Trillion
In solutions where the mass or volume percent of a component is very low, we
often switch to other units to describe solution concentration.

ppm: parts per million (g/g, mg/L)

ppb: parts per billion (ng/g, g/L)
ppt: parts per trillion (pg/g, ng/L)

Note:
1 ppm = 1 mg/L,
1 ppb = 1 mg/L,
1 ppt = 1 ng/L.
1.0 L x 1.0 g/mL = 1000 g
ppm, ppb, and ppt are properly m/m or v/v.
Molarity vs Molality

The Molarity, M, of a solution is defined as the number of moles of the solute per liter of
solution.

Molarity =
The molality, m, of a solution is defined as the number of moles of the solute per
kilogram of solvent.
Molality =
Mole Fraction and Mole Percent

The mole fraction of a solution component is defined as

x=
The sum of the mole fractions of all the solution components is 1.

x1 + x2 + x3+ ... + xn = 1
The mole percent of a solution component can be calculated as:
Mole % i = xi x100%
Normality

• The normality, N, of a solution is the number of equivalents of solute per liter of

solution.
• The equivalent is usually defined in terms of a chemical reaction.

– For acid-base reactions, an equivalent is the amount of substance that will react or form
1 mole of hydrogen
(H+) or hydroxide (OH-) ions.
– For redox (oxidation-reduction) reactions, an equivalent is the amount of substance that
will react or form 1 mole of electrons.
Normality =

N= nM
 Percent by volume
An ethanol-water solution is prepared by
dissolving 10.00 mL of ethanol,
CH3CH2OH (d = 0.789 g/mL), in a
sufficient volume of water to produce
100.0 mL of a solution with a density of
0.982 g/mL. What is the concentration of
ethanol in this solution expressed as a)
volume percent; b) mass percent; c)
mole fraction; d) mole percent; e)
molarity; f) molality?
Answer
a)Volume percent ethanol
Volume percent ethanol

b) Mass percent ethanol

Mass ethanol
Mass solution
Mass percent ethanol
c)Mole fraction of ethanol

Convert the mass of ethanol from part b) to an amount in moles.

? mol CH3CH2OHCH3CH2OH
Answer

Determine the ass of water present in 100.0 mL of solution

98.2 g soln – 7.89 g ethanol = 90.3 g water
Convert the mass of water to the number of moles present
? mol H2O

d)Mole percent ethanol

Mole percent ethanol
e)Molarity of ethanol
Divide the number of moles of ethanol from part c) by solution volume, 100.0 ml = 0.1 L
Molarity
Answer
f)Molality of ethanol
Convert the mass of water present in 100.0 ml of solution (from part c))
to the unit kg
? kg
Molality
 
 Dissolution process
- Dissolution is the process where a solute in gaseous, liquid, or solid phase dissolves in a
solvent to form a solution.
 Example
How many grams of H2O must be used to dissolve 50.0 g of sucrose, C12H22O11, to
prepare a 1.25 m solution of sucrose?

Ans.

 
 Spontaneity of the dissolution process

- The formation of a solution is an example of a spontaneous process, a process that is

favored by (1) a decrease in the energy of the system, which corresponds to an
exothermic process, and (2) an increase in the disorder, or randomness, of the system.

- The energy change that accompanies a dissolution process is called the heat of
solution, ∆Hsolution. It depends mainly on how strongly solute and solvent particles
interact.

- A negative value of ∆Hsolution designates the release of heat.

- The main interactions that affect the dissolution of a solute in a solvent follow:
+ Weak solute–solute attractions favor solubility.
+ Weak solvent–solvent attractions favor solubility.
+ Strong solvent–solute attractions favor solubility.
This schematic representation
of dissolution shows a
stepwise process involving the
endothermic separation of
solute and solvent species
(Steps 1 and 2) and
exothermic solvation (Step 3).
Intermolecular forces in mixtures
∆Hsolution = 0

-Ideal solution
Forces are similar between all
combinations of components.
 Ideal solution
Benzene Toluene
 Non-ideal solution

Non – ideal solutions

•Adhesive forces greater than cohesive forces.

∆Hsolution < 0
Non-ideal Solution

- Adhesive forces are less than cohesive forces.

∆Hsolution < 0
- At the limit these solutions are heterogeneous.
Like dissolves like
- Solubility is a complex phenomenon that depends on the balance of several properties.

- The general features of solubility are summarized by the expression: like dissolves like.

- Substances that dissolves in each other usually have similar types of intermolecular
interactions.

- One substance dissolves in another if the forces of attraction between the solute and the
solvent are similar to the solvent-solvent and solute-solute interactions.
Dissolution of liquids in liquids
Water and methanol are alike in that both substances contain O-H groups that form
hydrogen bonds readily. When these liquids are mixed, H2O... H2O hydrogen bonds and
CH3OH... CH3OH hydrogen bonds break, but H2O...CH3OH hydrogen bonds form.
The net result is that the degree of hydrogen bonding in the solution is about the same as
in either of the pure liquids, making these two liquids miscible.
 Octane
Dissolution of liquids C8H18

- The intermolecular interactions of octane

and cyclohexane are alike.
- Octane and cyclohexane have low
polarities, so these molecules in the pure
liquids are held together by the dispersion
forces caused by their polarizable electron
clouds. C3
- Dispersion forces in solutions of octane
and cyclohexane are about the same as in
the pure liquids. So these two liquids are
miscible.
Dissolution of liquids
- Water and octane are not alike and nearly insoluble in each other.
- Octane does not form hydrogen bonds, so the only forces of attraction between water
molecules and octane molecules are dispersion forces.
- Because hydrogen bonds are stronger than dispersion forces, the cost of disrupting the
hydrogen-bonding network in water is far greater than the stability gained from octane–
water dispersion forces.
 
 
Dissolution of liquids
- Some liquids can interact with other substances in multiple ways. Acetone, for instance,
has a polar CO bond and a three-carbon bonding framework.
- The bonding framework is similar to that of a hydrocarbon, so acetone mixes with
cyclohexane and octane.
- The polar CO group makes acetone miscible with other polar molecules such as
acetonitrile.
-The polar oxygen atom in acetone has lone pairs of electrons that can form hydrogen
bonds with hydrogen atoms of ammonia or water.
 
Exercise:
Give a molecular explanation for the following trend in alcohol solubilities in water:
n-Propanol CH3CH2CH2OH Completely miscible
n-Butanol CH3CH2CH2CH2OH 1.1 M
n-Pentanol CH3CH2CH2CH2CH2OH 0.30 M
n-Hexanol CH3CH2CH2CH2CH2CH2OH 0.056 M
Strategy
Solubility limits depend on the stabilization generated by solute–solvent interactions
balanced against the destabilization that occurs when solvent–solvent interactions are
disrupted by solute.
Intermolecular interactions involving water and alcohol molecules must be examined.
Dissolution of solids in liquids
There are 4 types of solids – bonding in the solid controls ability to
dissolve.

Network solids Molecular solids

Metalic solids Ionic solids

Network solids
• Network solids such as diamond, graphite, or silica cannot dissolve without breaking
covalent chemical bonds.
• Because intermolecular forces of attraction are always much weaker than covalent
bonds, solvent–solute interactions are never strong enough to offset the energy cost of
breaking bonds.
• Covalent solids are insoluble in all solvents, although they may react with specific
liquids or vapors.
Metalic solids
Metals do not dissolve in water, because they contain extensive delocalized bonding networks
that must be disrupted before the metal can dissolve.
A few metals react with water, and several react with aqueous acids, but no metal will simply
dissolve in water. Likewise, metals do not dissolve in nonpolar liquid solvents.

Zn(s) + 2H3O+ (aq) → Zn2+(aq) + H2(g) + 2H2O(l)

The aqueous medium dissolves the metal by a chemical reaction that converts the insoluble
metal into soluble cations. The solution produced when zinc reacts with aqueous HCl is an
aqueous solution of ions, not a solution of Zn metal in water.
Dissolution of solids: molecular solids
• At the opposite extreme, molecular solids contain individual molecules bound together by
various combinations of dispersion forces, dipole forces, and hydrogen bonds. Conforming to
“like dissolves like,” molecular solids dissolve readily in solvents with similar types of
intermolecular forces.
• Nonpolar, for instance, is soluble in nonpolar liquids such as carbon tetrachloride.
• Many organic compounds are molecular solids that dissolve in organic liquids such as
cyclohexane and acetone.
Dissolution of solids: molecular solids
• Hydrogen bonding makes sugars such as sucrose and glucose highly soluble in water.
• When glucose dissolves, hydrogen bonds between water and glucose replace the hydrogen
bonds lost by the water molecules of the solvent. This balance means that the energy
requirements for solution formation are small, and glucose is quite soluble in water.

Glucose surrounded by water

Dissolution of solids: molecular solids
• Hydrogen bonding allows water to dissolve materials that form hydrogen bonds.
• On the other hand, naphthalene, a similarly sized solid hydrocarbon limited to
dispersion forces, is nearly insoluble in water.
-> The best solvent for a molecular solid is one whose intermolecular forces match
the forces holding the molecules in the crystal.
 For a solid held together by dispersion forces, good solvents are nonpolar liquids such
as carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) and cyclohexane (C6H12).
 For polar solids, a polar solvent such as acetone works well.
Example: solubility of vitamin

Vitamin D
Solubility of solids: ionic solids
• The ability of an ionic solid to go into solution depends most strongly on its crystal
lattice energy, or the strength of attractions among the particles making up the solid.
• Crystal lattice energies are always negative
M(g) + X(g)→ MX(s) + energy
• If the solvent is water, the energy that must be supplied to expand the solvent includes
that required to break up some of the hydrogen bonding between water molecules.
• The third major factor contributing to the heat of solution is the extent to which solvent
molecules interact with particles of the solid.
• The process in which solvent molecules surround and interact with solute ions or
molecules is called solvation. When the solvent is water, the more specific term is
hydration.
Solubility of solids : ionic solids
A cluster of water molecules surrounds each ion in solution. Notice how the water
molecules are oriented so that their dipole moments align with charges of the ions. The
partially negative oxygen atoms of water molecules point toward cations, whereas the
partially positive hydrogen atoms of water molecules point toward anions.
Solubility of solids: ionic solids
• Hydration energy is defined as the energy change involved in the (exothermic)
hydration of one mole of gaseous ions.
Mn+(g) + xH2O → M (H2O)xn+ + energy (for cation)
Xy-(g) + rH2O → X (H2O)ry- + energy (for cation)
• Hydration is usually highly exothermic for ionic or polar covalent compounds, because
the polar water molecules interact very strongly with ions and polar molecules.
• The overall heat of solution for a solid dissolving in a liquid is equal to the heat of
solvation minus the crystal lattice energy.
∆Hsolution = (heat of solvation) - (crystal lattice energy)
Solubility of solids: ionic solids
• Magnitudes of crystal lattice and hydration energies generally increase with increasing
charge and decreasing size of ions (ionic charge densities increase).
• Hydration energies and lattice energies are usually of about the same magnitude for
low-charge species, so the dissolution process is slightly endothermic for many ionic
substances.
• As the charge-to-size ratio (charge density) increases for ions in ionic solids, the
magnitude of the crystal lattice energy usually increases more than the hydration
energy.
For example:
 Aluminum fluoride, AlF3;
 Magnesium oxide, MgO;
 Chromium (III) oxide, Cr2O3 are very endothermic and not very soluble in water. 
Dissolution of gases in liquids
The only gases that dissolve appreciably in water are:
 Those that are capable of hydrogen bonding (such as HF)
 Those that ionize (such as HCl, HBr, and HI)
 Those that react with water (such as CO2).
Rate of dissolution and saturation
• The rate of dissolution, in contrast, is a measure of how fast a solute dissolves in a
solvent. There are three factors that affect the rate of dissolution: (1) the surface area
of the solute, (2) the temperature of the solvent, and (3) the amount of agitation that
occurs when the solute and the solvent are mixed.
• Dissolution and crystallization continue as long as excess solid is present, resulting in
a dynamic equilibrium analogous to the equilibrium that maintains the vapor pressure
of a liquid. We can represent these opposing processes as follows:

dissolution
Solute + Solvent Solution
crystallization

• After equilibrium is established, no more solid dissolves without the simultaneous

crystallization of an equal mass of dissolved ions.
Rate of dissolution and saturation
• The solubility of most solids increases with increasing temperature, a saturated
solution that was prepared at a higher temperature usually contains more dissolved
solute than it would contain at a lower temperature.
• When the solution is cooled, it can therefore become supersaturated.
• A supersaturated solution produces crystals rapidly if it is slightly disturbed or if it is
“seeded” with a dust particle or a tiny crystal.
“
The properties of a solution are different from those of either the pure
solute(s) or solvent. Many solution properties are dependent upon the
chemical identity of the solute. Compared to pure water, a solution of
hydrogen chloride is more acidic, a solution of ammonia is more basic, a
solution of sodium chloride is more dense, and a solution of sucrose is
more viscous.
There are a few solution properties, however, that depend only upon the

”
total concentration of solute species, regardless of their identities.

These properties are called colligative properties 

Colligative
Properties

Description
Application
Performing calculations
Definition of Colligative properties
• Colligative properties are those properties of solution that depend only upon the total
concentration of solute species, regardless of their identities.
• These colligative properties include:
- vapor pressure lowering,
- boiling point elevation,
- freezing point depression,
- osmotic pressure.
This small set of properties is of central importance to many natural phenomena and technological
applications, as will be described in this presentation.
Vapor pressure lowering
As described in the chapter on liquids and solids, the equilibrium vapor pressure of a
liquid is the pressure exerted by its gaseous phase when vaporization and condensation
are occurring at equal rates:
liquid⇌gas

Dissolving a nonvolatile substance in a volatile liquid results in a lowering of the

liquid’s vapor pressure.

For purposes of understanding the lowering of a liquid's vapor pressure, it is adequate to

note that the more dispersed nature of matter in a solution, compared to separate solvent
and solute phases, serves to effectively stabilize the solvent molecules and hinder their
vaporization. A lower vapor pressure results, and a correspondingly higher boiling
point as described in the next section of this presentation.
Vapor pressure lowering and Raoult’s law
The relationship between the vapor pressures of solution components and the
concentrations of those components is described by Raoult’s law: : The partial pressure
exerted by any component of an ideal solution is equal to the vapor pressure of the pure
component multiplied by its mole fraction in the solution.

Where:
 is the partial pressure exerted by component A in the solution, 
 is the vapor pressure of pure A,
is the mole fraction of A in the solution.

Recalling that the total pressure of a gaseous mixture is equal to the sum of partial
pressures for all its components (Dalton’s law of partial pressures), the total vapor pressure
exerted by a solution containing  components is
Vapor pressure lowering and Raoult’s law
A nonvolatile substance is one whose vapor pressure is negligible ( P* ≈ 0), and so the
vapor pressure above a solution containing only nonvolatile solutes is due only to the
solvent:
Example
Calculation of a Vapor Pressure
Compute the vapor pressure of an ideal solution containing 92.1 g of glycerin, C3H5(OH)3,
and 184.4 g of ethanol, C2H5OH, at 40 °C. The vapor pressure of pure ethanol is 0.178 atm
at 40 °C. Glycerin is essentially nonvolatile at this temperature.
Example

Solution Since the solvent is the only volatile component of this solution, its vapor
pressure may be computed per Raoult’s law as:

First, calculate the molar amounts of each solution component using the provided mass
data.

Next, calculate the mole fraction of the solvent (ethanol) and use Raoult’s law to compute
the solution’s vapor pressure.
Distillation of Solutions
• Solutions whose components have significantly different vapor pressures may be
separated by a selective vaporization process known as distillation.
Consider the simple case of a mixture of two volatile liquids, A and B, with A being
the more volatile liquid. Raoult’s law can be used to show that the vapor above
the solution is enriched in component A, that is, the mole fraction of A in the vapor
is greater than the mole fraction of A in the liquid. By appropriately heating the
mixture, component A may be vaporized, condensed, and collected—effectively
separating it from component B.
• Distillation is widely applied in both laboratory and industrial settings, being used to
refine petroleum, to isolate fermentation products, and to purify water. A typical
apparatus for laboratory-scale distillations is shown in figure below.
A typical laboratory distillation unit is shown in (a) a photograph and (b) a schematic diagram
of the components. (credit a: modification of work by “Rifleman82”/Wikimedia commons;
credit b: modification of work by “Slashme”/Wikimedia Commons)
Oil refineries use large-scale fractional distillation to separate the components of crude oil.
The crude oil is heated to high temperatures at the base of a tall fractionating column,
vaporizing many of the components that rise within the column. As vaporized components
reach adequately cool zones during their ascent, they condense and are collected. The
collected liquids are simpler mixtures of hydrocarbons and other petroleum compounds
that are of appropriate composition for various applications (e.g., diesel fuel, kerosene,
gasoline), as depicted in the following figure.
Crude oil is a complex mixture that is separated by large-scale fractional distillation to isolate
various simpler mixtures.
Boiling Point Elevation
As described in the chapter on liquids and solids, the boiling point of a liquid is the
temperature at which its vapor pressure is equal to ambient atmospheric pressure.
Since the vapor pressure of a solution is lowered due to the presence of nonvolatile
solutes, it stands to reason that the solution’s boiling point will subsequently be
increased.
Vapor pressure increases with temperature, and so a solution will require a higher
temperature than will pure solvent to achieve any given vapor pressure, including one
equivalent to that of the surrounding atmosphere.
The increase in boiling point observed when nonvolatile solute is dissolved in a solvent,
Δ Tb, is called boiling point elevation and is directly proportional to the molal
concentration of solute species:

where Kb is the boiling point elevation constant, or the ebullioscopic constant and m is

the molal concentration (molality) of all solute species.
Boiling Point Elevation
Boiling point elevation constants are characteristic properties that depend on the
identity of the solvent. Values of Kb for several solvents are listed in Table below.

Boiling Point Elevation Depression Constants for Several Solvents

Solvent Boiling Point (°C at 1 Kb(ºCm−1)
atm)
water 100.0 0.512

hydrogen acetate 118.1 3.07

benzene 80.1 2.53

chloroform 61.26 3.63
nitrobenzene 210.9 5.24
Boiling Point Elevation
The extent to which the vapor pressure of a solvent is lowered, and the boiling point is
elevated depends on the total number of solute particles present in a given amount of
solvent, not on the mass or size or chemical identities of the particles.
A 1 m aqueous solution of sucrose (342 g/mol) and a 1 m aqueous solution of ethylene
glycol (62 g/mol) will exhibit the same boiling point because each solution has one mole
of solute particles (molecules) per kilogram
Example
Calculating the Boiling Point of a Solution Assuming ideal solution behavior, what is the boiling
point of a 0.33 m solution of a nonvolatile solute in benzene?
Example
Solution Use the equation relating boiling point elevation to solute molality to solve this
problem in two steps.

Step 1. Calculate the change in boiling point.

Step 2. Add the boiling point elevation to the pure solvent’s boiling point.
Freezing Point Depression
Solutions freeze at lower temperatures than pure liquids. This phenomenon is exploited in
“de-icing” schemes that use salt (Figure below), calcium chloride, or urea to melt ice on
roads and sidewalks, and in the use of ethylene glycol as an “antifreeze” in automobile
radiators. Seawater freezes at a lower temperature than fresh water, and so the Arctic and
Antarctic oceans remain unfrozen even at temperatures below 0 °C (as do the body fluids of
fish and other cold-blooded sea animals that live in these oceans).

Figure. Rock salt (NaCl), calcium chloride

(CaCl2), or a mixture of the two are used to
melt ice. (credit: modification of work by
Eddie Welker)
Freezing Point Depression
The decrease in freezing point of a dilute solution compared to that of the pure solvent, Δ Tf,
is called the freezing point depression and is directly proportional to the molal
concentration of the solute

where m is the molal concentration of the solute and Kf is called the freezing point
depression constant (or cryoscopic constant).
Just as for boiling point elevation constants, these are characteristic properties whose
values depend on the chemical identity of the solvent. Values of Kf for several solvents are
listed in the following table. 
Freezing Point Depression

Freezing Point Depression Constants for Several Solvents

Solvent Freezing Point (°C at Kf(ºCm−1)
1 atm)

water 0.0 1.86

hydrogen acetate 16.6 3.9

benzene 5.5 5.12

chloroform −63.5 4.68

nitrobenzene 5.67 8.1

Example
Calculating the Boiling Point of a Solution Assuming ideal solution behavior, what is the boiling
point of a 0.33 m solution of a nonvolatile solute in benzene?
Example
Solution Use the equation relating freezing point depression to solute molality to solve this
problem in two steps.

Step 1. Calculate the change in freezing point..

Step 2. Subtract the freezing point change observed from the pure solvent’s freezing point.
Freezing Point Depression

Freezing point depression is exploited to remove ice from (a) roadways and (b)
the control surfaces of aircraft.
Phase Diagram for a Solution
The colligative effects on vapor pressure, boiling point, and freezing point described in the
previous section are conveniently summarized by comparing the phase diagrams for a pure
liquid and a solution derived from that liquid.
Phase Diagram for a Solution

Phase diagrams for a pure solvent (solid

curves) and a solution formed by dissolving
nonvolatile solute in the solvent (dashed
curves).
Osmosis and Osmotic Pressure of Solutions
A number of natural and synthetic materials exhibit selective permeation, meaning that only
molecules or ions of a certain size, shape, polarity, charge, and so forth, are capable of
passing through (permeating) the material. Biological cell membranes provide elegant
examples of selective permeation in nature, while dialysis tubing used to remove metabolic
wastes from blood is a more simplistic technological example. Regardless of how they may
be fabricated, these materials are generally referred to as semipermeable membranes.
Consider the apparatus illustrated in the following figure, in which samples of pure solvent
and a solution are separated by a membrane that only solvent molecules may permeate.
Solvent molecules will diffuse across the membrane in both directions. Since the
concentration of solvent is greater in the pure solvent than the solution, these molecules will
diffuse from the solvent side of the membrane to the solution side at a faster rate than they
will in the reverse direction. The result is a net transfer of solvent molecules from the pure
solvent to the solution.
Diffusion-driven transfer of solvent molecules through a semipermeable membrane is a
process known as osmosis.
Osmosis and Osmotic Pressure of Solutions

a) A solution and pure solvent

are initially separated by an
osmotic membrane.
b) (b) Net transfer of solvent
molecules to the solution
occurs until its osmotic
pressure yields equal rates
of transfer in both
directions.
 Osmosis and Osmotic Pressure of Solutions
When osmosis is carried out in an apparatus like that shown in
figure, the volume of the solution increases as it becomes
diluted by accumulation of solvent. This causes the level of the
solution to rise, increasing its hydrostatic pressure (due to the
weight of the column of solution in the tube) and resulting in a
faster transfer of solvent molecules back to the pure solvent
side. When the pressure reaches a value that yields a reverse
solvent transfer rate equal to the osmosis rate, bulk transfer of
solvent ceases. This pressure is called the osmotic pressure
(Π) of the solution.

The osmotic pressure of a dilute solution is related to its solute molarity, M, and absolute temperature, T,
according to the equation

where R is the universal gas constant.

Example
Solution Find the osmotic pressure, Π, using the formula Π = MRT, where T is on the Kelvin
scale (310 K) and the value of R is expressed in appropriate units (0.08206 L atm/mol K).
Example
Calculation of Osmotic Pressure Assuming ideal solution behavior, what is the osmotic
pressure (atm) of a 0.30 M solution of glucose in water that is used for intravenous infusion
at body temperature, 37 °C?
 Osmosis and Osmotic Pressure of Solutions

Applying a pressure greater than the

osmotic pressure of a solution will reverse
osmosis. Solvent molecules from the
solution are pushed into the pure solvent.

If a solution is placed in an apparatus like the one shown in the figure, applying pressure greater than the
osmotic pressure of the solution reverses the osmosis and pushes solvent molecules from the solution into the
pure solvent. This technique of reverse osmosis is used for large-scale desalination of seawater and on
smaller scales to produce high-purity tap water for drinking.
Osmosis and Osmotic Pressure of Solutions

Reverse osmosis systems for purifying drinking water are shown here on (a) small and
(b) large scales.
(credit a: modification of work by Jerry Kirkhart; credit b: modification of work by Willard
J. Lathrop)
Examples of osmosis system in biological systems
• Carrots and celery that have become limp because they have lost water can be made
crisp again by placing them in water. Water moves into the carrot or celery cells by
osmosis.
• A cucumber placed in a concentrated salt solution loses water by osmosis and
absorbs some salt to become a pickle.
• Osmosis can also affect animal cells. Solute concentrations are particularly important
when solutions are injected into the body. Solutes in body cell fluids and blood serum
give these solutions an osmotic pressure of approximately 7.7 atm. Solutions injected
into the body must have the same osmotic pressure as blood serum; that is, they
should be isotonic with blood serum. If a less concentrated solution,
a hypotonic solution, is injected in sufficient quantity to dilute the blood serum, water
from the diluted serum passes into the blood cells by osmosis, causing the cells to
expand and rupture. This process is called hemolysis. When a more concentrated
solution, a hypertonic solution, is injected, the cells lose water to the more
concentrated solution, shrivel, and possibly die in a process called crenation. These
effects are illustrated in the following figure.
Red blood cell membranes are water permeable and will (a) swell and possibly rupture
in a hypotonic solution; (b) maintain normal volume and shape in an isotonic solution;
and (c) shrivel and possibly die in a hypertonic solution. (credit a/b/c: modifications of
work by “LadyofHats”/Wikimedia commons)
Determination of Molar Masses
Osmotic pressure and changes in freezing point, boiling point, and vapor pressure are
directly proportional to the number of solute species present in a given amount of
solution. Consequently, measuring one of these properties for a solution prepared using
a known mass of solute permits determination of the solute’s molar mass.
Example
Determination of a Molar Mass from a Freezing Point Depression
A solution of 4.00 g of a nonelectrolyte dissolved in 55.0 g of benzene is found to freeze at
2.32 °C. Assuming ideal solution behavior, what is the molar mass of this compound?
Example
Solve this problem using the following steps.
 Example

Step 1. Determine the change in freezing point from the observed freezing point and the freezing
point of pure benzene

Step 2. Determine the molal concentration from Kf, the freezing point depression constant for
benzene, and ΔTf.

Step 3. Determine the number of moles of compound in the solution from the molal concentration
and the mass of solvent used to make the solution.

Step 4. Determine the molar mass from the mass of the solute and the number of moles in that
mass.
Example
Determination of a Molar Mass from Osmotic Pressure
A 0.500 L sample of an aqueous solution containing 10.0 g of hemoglobin has an osmotic
pressure of 5.9 torr at 22 °C. Assuming ideal solution behavior, what is the molar mass of
hemoglobin?
Example
Here is one set of steps that can be used to solve the problem:
Step 1. Convert the osmotic pressure to atmospheres, then determine the molar concentration from
the osmotic pressure.

Step 2. Determine the number of moles of hemoglobin in the solution from the concentration and
the volume of the solution.

Step 3. Determine the molar mass from the mass of hemoglobin and the number of moles in that
mass.
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