Solution

In chemistry, a solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of two or more

substances. In such a mixture, a solute is dissolved in another substance,
known as a solvent.

Types of solutions
Usually, the substance present in a greatest amount is considered the solvent.
Solvents can be gases, liquids, or solids. The solution has the same physical state as the solvent.

Gas
If the solvent is a gas, only gases are dissolved under all given set of conditions. An example for a
gaseous solution is air (oxygen and other gases dissolved in nitrogen). Since interactions between
molecules play almost no role, dilute gases form rather trivial solutions. In part of the literature, they are
not even classified as solutions, but addressed as mixtures.

Liquid
If the solvent is a liquid, gases, liquids, and solids can be dissolved. Examples are:

 Gas in liquid:
 Oxygen in water.
 Carbon dioxide in water is a less simple example, because the solution is accompanied by a
chemical reaction (formation of ions). Note also that the visible bubbles in carbonated water are
not the dissolved gas, but only an effervescence; the dissolved gas itself is not visible since it is
dissolved on a molecular level.
 Liquid in liquid:
 The mixing of two or more substances of the same chemistry but different concentrations
to form a constant.(Homogenization of solutions)
 Alcoholic beverages are basically solutions of ethanol in water.
 Petroleum is a solution of various hydrocarbons.
 Solid in liquid:
 Sucrose (table sugar) in water
  Sodium chloride or any other salt in water forms an electrolyte: When dissolving, salt
dissociates into ions.
Counterexamples are provided by liquid mixtures that are
not homogeneous: colloids, suspensions, emulsions are not considered solutions.
Body fluids are examples for complex liquid solutions, containing many different solutes. They are
electrolytes since they contain solute ions (e.g. potassium and sodium). Furthermore, they contain solute
molecules like sugar and urea. Oxygen and carbon dioxide are also essential components of blood
chemistry, where significant changes in their concentrations can be a sign of illness or injury.

Solid
If the solvent is a solid, gases, liquids, and solids can be dissolved.

 Gas in solid:
 Hydrogen dissolves rather well in metals, especially in palladium; this is studied as a
means of hydrogen storage.
 Liquid in solid:
 mercury in gold, forming an amalgam
 Hexane in paraffin wax
 Solid in solid
 Steel, basically a solution of carbon atoms in a crystalline matrix of iron atoms.
 Alloys like bronze and many others.
 Polymers containing plasticizers.

Solubility
The ability of one compound to dissolve in another compound is called solubility. When a liquid is able to
completely dissolve in another liquid the two liquids are miscible. Two substances that can never mix to
form a solution are called immiscible.
All solutions have a positive entropy of mixing. The interactions between different molecules or ions may
be energetically favored or not. If interactions are unfavorable, then the free energy decreases with
increasing solute concentration. At some point the energy loss outweighs the entropy gain, and no more
solute particles can be dissolved; the solution is said to be saturated. However, the point at which a
solution can become saturated can change significantly with different environmental factors, such
as temperature, pressure, and contamination. For some solute-solvent combinations
a supersaturated solution can be prepared by raising the solubility (for example by increasing the
temperature) to dissolve more solute, and then lowering it (for example by cooling).
Usually, the greater the temperature of the solvent, the more of a given solid solute it can dissolve.
However, most gases and some compounds exhibit solubilities that decrease with increased temperature.
Such behavior is a result of an exothermic enthalpy of solution. Some surfactants exhibit this behaviour.
The solubility of liquids in liquids is generally less temperature-sensitive than that of solids or gases.

Liquid solutions
In principle, all types of liquids can behave as solvents: liquid noble gases, molten metals, molten salts,
molten covalent networks, and molecular liquids. In the practice of chemistry and biochemistry, most
solvents are molecular liquids. They can be classified into polar and non-polar, according to whether their
molecules possess a permanent electric dipole moment. Another distinction is whether their molecules are
able to form hydrogen bonds (protic and aprotic solvents). Water, the most commonly used solvent, is
both polar and sustains hydrogen bonds.
Salts dissolve in polar solvents, forming positive and negative ions that are attracted to the negative and
positive ends of the solvent molecule, respectively. If the solvent is water, hydration occurs when the
charged solute ions become surrounded by water molecules. A standard example is aqueous saltwater.
Such solutions are called electrolytes.
For non-ionic solutes, the general rule is: like dissolves like.
Polar solutes dissolve in polar solvents, forming polar bonds or hydrogen bonds. As an example, all
alcoholic beverages are aqueous solutions of ethanol. On the other hand, non-polar solutes dissolve better
in non-polar solvents. Examples are hydrocarbons such as oil and grease that easily mix with each other,
while being incompatible with water.
An example for the immiscibility of oil and water is a leak of petroleum from a damaged
tanker, that does not dissolve in the ocean water but rather floats on the surface.
Concentrations of Solutions
In chemistry, concentration is the measure of how much of a given substance there is mixed with
another substance. This can apply to any sort of chemical mixture, but most frequently the concept is
limited to homogeneous solutions, where it refers to the amount of solute in thesolvent.

To concentrate a solution, one must add more solute (e.g. alcohol), or reduce the amount of solvent (e.g.
water). By contrast, to dilute a solution, one must add more solvent, or reduce the amount of solute.

Unless two substances are fully miscible there exists a concentration at which no further solute will
dissolve in a solution. At this point, the solution is said to be saturated. If additional solute is added to a
saturated solution, it will not dissolve (except in certain circumstances, when supersaturation may occur).
Instead, phase separation will occur, leading to either coexisting phases or a suspension. The point of
saturation depends on many variables such as ambient temperature and the precise chemical nature of the
solvent and solute.

Analytical concentration includes all the forms of that substance in the solution.

There are a number of ways to express the relative amounts of solute and solvent in a solution.

 Percent Composition (by mass)

 Molarity
 Molality
 Mole Fraction

Percent Composition (by mass)

We can consider percent by mass (or weight percent, as it is sometimes called) in two ways:
 The parts of solute per 100 parts of solution.
 The fraction of a solute in a solution multiplied by 100.
We need two pieces of information to calculate the percent by mass of a solute in a solution:
 The mass of the solute in the solution.
 The mass of the solution.

Use the following equation to calculate percent by mass:

Molarity

Molarity tells us the number of moles of solute in exactly one liter of a solution. (Note that molarity is
spelled with an "r" and is represented by a capital M.)

We need two pieces of information to calculate the molarity of a solute in a solution:

 The moles of solute present in the solution.
  The volume of solution (in liters) containing the solute.

To calculate molarity we use the equation:

Molality

Molality, m, tells us the number of moles of solute dissolved in exactly one kilogram of solvent. (Note
that molality is spelled with two "l"'s and represented by a lower case m.)

We need two pieces of information to calculate the molality of a solute in a solution:

 The moles of solute present in the solution.
 The mass of solvent (in kilograms) in the solution.

To calculate molality we use the equation:

Mole Fraction

The mole fraction, X, of a component in a solution is the ratio of the number of moles of that component
to the total number of moles of all components in the solution.

To calculate mole fraction, we need to know:

 The number of moles of each component present in the solution.

The mole fraction of A, XA, in a solution consisting of A, B, C, ... is calculated using the equation:

To calculate the mole fraction of B, XB, use:

 Research paper
In

General Chemistry

Of

Joanne P. Sarzona
BS NURSING

submitted to: Prof. Emily Peñaflor

SY: 2010 - 2011