Science and Technology

Science encompasses the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural
world through observation and experiment, and technology is the application of scientific knowledge for
practical purposes. Oxford Reference provides more than 210,000 concise definitions and in-depth,
specialist encyclopedic entries on the wide range of subjects within these broad disciplines.

Solutions
Naturally Occurring Solutions
Sea, Ocean. Water, blood plasma, air plasma, mineral ores
Manufactured Solutions
Wine, gasoline, vinegar, fish sauce, alcamforado
A metal alloy is a solid solution made up of two or more metals.
Example: bronze is an alloy of copper and tin.
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc
Steel is an alloy made up of iron and carbon.
Solubility
is defined as the maximum amount of a substance that will dissolve in a given amount of solvent at a
specified temperature. Solubility is a characteristic property of a specific solute–solvent combination,
and different substances have greatly differing solubilities.
Saturated solution
is a chemical solution containing the maximum concentration of a solute dissolved in the solvent. The
additional solute will not dissolve in a saturated solution. The amount of solute that can be dissolved in a
solvent to form a saturated solution depends on a variety of factors
An unsaturated solution
is a chemical solution in which the solute concentration is lower than its equilibrium solubility. All of
the solute dissolves in the solvent. When a solute (often a solid) is added to a solvent (often a liquid),
two processes occur simultaneously.
A concentrated solution
is one that has a relatively large amount of dissolved solute. A dilute solution is one that has a
relatively small amount of dissolved solute. However, these terms are relative, and we need to be able
to express concentration in a more exact, quantitative manner
Dilution
is the process of decreasing the concentration of a solute in a solution, usually simply by mixing with
more solvent. To dilute a solution means to add more solvent without the addition of more solute. ... If
one adds 1 litre of water to thissolution the salt concentration is reduced.
Properties of Solutions
Describe how the properties of solutions differ from those of pure solvents.
Solutions are likely to have properties similar to those of their major component—usually the solvent.
However, some solution properties differ significantly from those of the solvent. Here, we will focus on
liquid solutions that have a solid solute, but many of the effects we will discuss in this section are
applicable to all solutions.
Colligative Properties
Solutes affect some properties of solutions that depend only on the concentration of the dissolved
particles. These properties are called colligative properties. Four important colligative properties that we
will examine here are vapor pressure depression, boiling point elevation, freezing point depression, and
osmotic pressure.
Vapor Pressure Depression All liquids evaporate. In fact, given enough volume, a liquid will turn
completely into a vapor. If enough volume is not present, a liquid will evaporate only to the point where
the rate of evaporation equals the rate of vapor condensing back into a liquid. The pressure of the vapor
at this point is called the vapor pressure of the liquid.
The presence of solute particles blocks some of the ability for liquid particles to evaporate. Thus,
solutions of solid solutes typically have a lower vapor pressure than the pure solvent.
Boiling Point and Freezing Point Effects
A related property of solutions is that their boiling points are higher than the boiling point of the pure
solvent. Because the presence of solute particles decreases the vapor pressure of the liquid solvent, a
higher temperature is needed to reach the boiling point. This phenomenon is called  boiling point
elevation. For every mole of particles dissolved in a liter of water, the boiling point of water increases by
about 0.5°C.
Osmotic Pressure
The last colligative property of solutions we will consider is a very important one for biological systems.
It involves osmosis, the process by which solvent molecules can pass through certain membranes but
solute particles cannot. When two solutions of different concentration are present on either side of
these membranes (called semipermeable membranes), there is a tendency for solvent molecules to
move from the more dilute solution to the more concentrated solution until the concentrations of the
two solutions are equal.
Osmolarity (osmol) is a way of reporting the total number of particles in a solution to determine osmotic
pressure. It is defined as the molarity of a solute times the number of particles a formula unit of the
solute makes when it dissolves (represented by i).

Independent and Dependent Variables

Variables are given a special name that only applies to experimental investigations. One is called the
dependent variable and the other the independent variable.
The independent variable is the variable the experimenter manipulates or changes, and is assumed to
have a direct effect on the dependent variable. For example, allocating participants to either drug or
placebo conditions (independent variable) in order to measure any changes in the intensity of their
anxiety (dependent variable).
In a well-designed experimental study, the independent variable is the only important difference
between the experimental (e.g. treatment) and control (e.g. placebo) groups.
The dependent variable is the variable being tested and measured in an experiment, and is 'dependent'
on the independent variable. An example of a dependent variable is depression symptoms, which
depends on the independent variable (type of therapy).
In an experiment, the researcher is looking for the possible effect on the dependent variable that might
be caused by changing the independent variable.

Examples of Independent and Dependent Variables in Experiments

For example, we might change the type of information (e.g. organized or random) given to participants
to see what effect this might have on the amount of information remembered.
In this particular example the type of information is the independent variable (because it changes) and
the amount of information remembered is the dependent variable (because this is being measured).