Lesson 7:

Colligative
Properties of
Nonelectrolytes
and Electrolyte
Solutions
 Most Essential Learning
Competency
Describe the effect of concentration on the colligative
properties of solutions (STEM_GC11PP-IIId-f-115)

Differentiate the colligative properties of

nonelectrolyte solutions and of electrolyte solutions.
(STEM_GC11PP-IIId-f-116 )
 Questions

1) What is colligative property?

2) Identify the different colligative properties of
solutions.
3) Describe the effect of solute concentration on the
colligative properties of solutions.
4) Differentiate between the effects that an electrolyte
and the of nonelectrolyte solutions and of electrolyte
colligative properties solutions.
 Colligative Properties

Colligative properties are properties of a solution

that depend only on the number and not on the
identity of the solute particles.

Thus, these depend on the collective effect of the

concentration of solute particles present in an ideal
solution. Because of their direct relationship to the
number of solute particles, the colligative properties
are very useful for characterizing the nature of a
solute after it is dissolved in a solvent and for
determining the molar masses of substances.
 The Different Colligative
Properties of Solution
(1) vapor pressure lowering
(2) boiling point elevation; and
(3) freezing point depression.
Effect of Solute Concentration on the
Colligative Properties of Solutions
The concentration or amount of nonvolatile solute
(i.e., a solute that does not have a vapor pressure of
its own) in the solution has an effect on the colligative
properties of solutions.

The effect would depend on the ratio of the number

of particles of solute and solvent in the solution
and not on the identity of the solute. However, it is
necessary to take into account whether the solute is
an electrolyte or a nonelectrolyte.
 Effects of Electrolyte and Nonelectrolyte
on Colligative Properties Solutions

1) Vapor Pressure Lowering

Vapor pressure is a direct measure of escaping
tendency of molecules. A pure liquid (solvent) in a
closed container will establish equilibrium with its
vapor. And when that equilibrium is reached, the
pressure exerted by the vapor is called the vapor
pressure.
• Nonvolatile - a substance that has no measurable
vapor pressure
• Volatile - exhibits a vapor pressure
When a liquid evaporates easily, it will have a large
number of its molecules in the gas phase resulting to
a high vapor pressure. The picture (Fig. 1) in the left
shows a surface entirely occupied by liquid
molecules, some of which evaporated and form a
vapor. On the right, a nonvolatile solute like salt or
sugar has been dissolved into the solvent, having the
effect of diluting the water.
The addition of a nonvolatile solute resulted to a
lowering of the vapor pressure of the solvent. The
lowering of the vapor pressure depends on the
number of solute particles that have been dissolved.
The chemical nature of the solute is not considered
because vapor pressure is merely a physical property
of the solvent and does not undergo a chemical
reaction with the solvent and does not itself escape
into the gas phase.
It is important to note that the reduction in the vapor pressure
of a solution of this example is directly proportional to the
fraction of the volatile molecules in the liquid, which is the mole
fraction of the solvent. This reduced vapor pressure can be
determined using Raoult’s Law (1886).
Raoult’s† law, which states that the vapor pressure of
a solvent over a solution, P1, is given by the vapor
pressure of the pure solvent, P°1, times the mole
fraction of the solvent in the solution, X1
Recall from the definition of mole fraction that in a two
component solution (a solvent and a single solute),

Xsolvent = 1 – Xsolute.

While the chemical nature of the solute is not a factor to

consider, it is important to take into consideration whether the
solute is an electrolyte or nonelectrolyte. Ionic compounds
like sodium chloride, NaCl, are strong electrolytes that
dissociate into ions when they dissolve in solution results in a
larger number of dissolved particles.
Consider two different solutions of equal
concentration:
one is made from ionic compound NaCl, while the
other is made from the molecular compound glucose
(C6H12O6). The equations below show what happens
when these solutions dissolve:
The sodium chloride, NaCl dissociates into 2 ions, while glucose
does not dissociate. Thus, equal concentrations of each solution
will result in twice as many dissolved particles as in the case
of NaCl. The vapor pressure of the solvent in NaCl solution
(electrolyte) will be lowered twice as much as that of the
solvent in the glucose (nonelectrolyte) solution. Since the
surface now of salt solution is covered by more solute particles
there is less room for solvent molecules to evaporate
lowering the vapor pressure of the solvent, water.
2) Boiling Point Elevation
The addition of a nonvolatile solute lowers the vapor
pressure of the solution; consequently the
temperature must be raised to restore the vapor
pressure of the solution to the value conforming
to the pure solvent. Specifically, the temperature at
which the vapor pressure is 1 atm will be higher than
the normal boiling point by an amount known as the
boiling point elevation.
Figure 3 shows the phase diagram of a solution and the effect
that the lowered vapor pressure has on the boiling point of
the solution compared to the solvent. In this case the sucrose
solution has a higher boiling point than the pure solvent.
• Since the vapor of the solution is lower, more heat
must be supplied to the solution to bring its
vapor pressure up to the pressure of the
external atmosphere.
• Boiling point elevation (∆Tb) is defined as the
boiling point of the solution (Tb) minus the boiling
point of the pure solvent (T°b):
• Because Tb > T°b, ∆T b is a positive quantity.
• The value of ∆Tb is proportional to the vapor-pressure
lowering, and so it is also proportional to the concentration
(molality) of the solution. That is,

• where m is the molality of the solution and Kb is the molal

boiling-point elevation constant. The units of Kb are °C/m.
• It is important to understand the choice of concentration unit
here. We are dealing with a system (the solution) whose
temperature is not constant, so we cannot express the
concentration units in molarity because molarity changes
with temperature.
For dilute solution the elevation of the boiling point is directly
proportional to the molal concentration of the solute:

The molal boiling point elevation constant, Kb, has a specific

value depending on the identity of the solvent.
3) Freezing Point Elevation
The freezing point of a substance is the temperature
at which the solid and liquid forms can coexist
indefinitely, at equilibrium. Under these conditions
molecules pass between the 2 phases at equal rates
because their escaping tendencies from the two
phases are identical.
Figure 5 below shows the phase diagram for a pure
solvent and how it changes when a solute is added
to it. The solute lowers the vapor pressure of the
solvent resulting in a lower freezing point for the
solution compared to the pure solvent. The freezing
point depression is the difference in temperature
between the freezing point of a pure solvent and
that of a solution. On the graph, Tf represents the
freezing point depression.
At a given temperature, if a substance is added to a
solvent like water, the solute-solvent interactions
prevent the solvent from going into the solid
phase, requiring the temperature to decrease further
before the solution will solidify. Meaning, more energy
must be removed from the solution in order to freeze
it and the freezing point of the solution is lower
than that of the pure solvent.
The magnitude of the freezing point depression is directly
proportional to the molality of the solution. Thus:

∆Tf = Kf m

Where:
Kf – is the molal freezing - point depression constant., a
constant that is equal to the change in the freezing-point for a 1
molal solution of a nonvolatile molecular solute
Tf – freezing point depression
M – molality of solute