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Concentration of solutions
Chemists often carry out reactions in solution.
When you are using a solution of a substance, it is important to know how much of
the substance is dissolved in a particular volume of solution.
Concentrations are sometimes measured in grams per cubic decimetre. A solution
contain 80g of sodium hydroxide made up to 1dm3 of solution has a concentration of
80gdm-3.
However, chemists usually prefer to measure out quantities in moles rather than in
grams, because working in moles tells you about the number of particles present. So
preferred units for measuring concentrations in chemistry are moles per cubic
decimetre, moldm-3.
To convert gdm-3 to moldm-3, need to know the molar mass of the substance
involved.
In general:

Moldm-3 can be abbreviated to M. quick to write and was widely used but now
moldm-3 is preferred.
When make a solution, its concentration depends on:
o The amount of solute
o Final volume of the solution
If know the concentration of a solution, can work out the amount of solute in a
particular volume.

Above shows the concentration of a solution depends on amount of solute and the
final volume of the solution.

Using concentrations in calculations:

If you are carrying out a chemical reaction in solution and you know the equation for
the reaction, you can use the concentrations for the reacting solutions to predict the
volumes you will need.