8.

5 Solutions

When you place a lump of sugar or some salt in water it seems to disappear. This
is called EJTTPMWJOH. You get a colourless TPMVUJPO. The substance that dissolves
is called the TPMVUF. The substance that it dissolves into is called the TPMWFOU.
A solution is a mixture. A sugar solution is a mixture of water and sugar. Although
the sugar seems to disappear, it is still there. The sugar molecules have simply
spread out among the water molecules.

Sugar is the solute. Water is the solvent. The sugar and water
mixture is the solution.
The diagrams below show what happens to sugar molecules when they dissolve.

The sugar crystal is The water molecules The water molecules separate
visible because the bump into the groups all the sugar molecules. The
molecules are tightly of sugar molecules and molecules are too small to be seen
packed together. separate them. so the solution looks transparent.

If you dissolve a coloured salt

such as copper sulfate, the solution
formed is coloured.
All solutions are USBOTQBSFOU. This
means you can see through them.
A liquid like milk is not a solution
because it is not transparent.

Copper sulfate forms a Milk is not a solution. You can

solution. It is transparent. tell this because it is opaque.

100 8 Mixtures
 8.5 Solutions

Activity 8.5
Dissolving
SE 1 Place a watch glass or piece of paper on a top pan balance and find its
mass. Add some salt. This is the solute. Find the mass of the salt. Record
the mass.
2 Remove the salt. Now place a beaker of water on the top pan balance and
find the mass of the water and beaker. The water is the solvent. Record
the mass.
3 Add the salt to the water and find the mass.

Questions
A1 What was the mass of the salt used?
A2 What was the mass of the water and the beaker?
A3 What was the mass of the solution and the beaker?
A4 What does this tell you about the salt solution?

When salt is added to water and it dissolves, it has not disappeared. The salt
particles are still in the water. The mass of a solution equals the total mass of the
solute and the solvent. This is true for any solution.
mass of solute + mass of solvent = mass of solution
No mass has been lost. This is called DPOTFSWBUJPO
PG
NBTT.

Questions
1 In a solution of sugar and water, which is the solvent and which is
the solute?
2 What mass of salt solution is made when 9 g of salt is dissolved in 50 g of
water? Explain how you worked out your answer.
A+I 3 A green powder was placed into a beaker of water. After it was stirred
the water looked cloudy and lumps of powder could still be seen. Has a
solution been formed? Explain your answer.

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8 Mixtures 101
 8.6 Solubility

Solutions, solvents and solutes

A solution is made when a solute is dissolved in a sugar
solvent. A DPODFOUSBUFE solution has more particles molecule
of the solute dissolved in it than a EJMVUF solution.
A solid that dissolves in a solvent such as water is said water
molecule
to be soluble. Sodium chloride (common salt) and
sugar are TPMVCMF.
A solid that will not dissolve in water is JOTPMVCMF. A concentrated solution of sugar
Iron filings are insoluble. has a lot of sugar particles.

If you keep on adding a soluble solid to a

beaker of water, there comes a point when no
more of the solid will dissolve. You have made a
TBUVSBUFE
TPMVUJPO.
Some soluble substances are more soluble than others.
If you have 100 cm3 of water, you would be able to
dissolve a lot of sodium chloride in it, but only a tiny
bit of lead chloride. Sodium chloride has a greater
TPMVCJMJUZ than lead chloride. A dilute solution of sugar
has fewer sugar particles.

Activity 8.6
Solubility in water
SE In this activity you will use the various solutes
provided and investigate their solubility in water.
You will use water at room temperature.
1 Place a measured volume of water in a number
of test tubes. Use a different test tube for each of
the solutes.
2 Add the first solute to the water. Count how
many spatulas you add until no more will
dissolve.
3 Repeat for the other solutes.
4 Record your results in a table.
Questions
A1 Which was the most soluble of the solutes you used?
A2 Which was the least soluble of the solutes you used?
A3 In this investigation you used spatulas as a measure of the quantity of
solute added. Suggest another way of measuring the solute used which
would improve the accuracy of the results.

102 8 Mixtures
 8.6 Solubility

Solubility
To compare the solubility of different solutes you must measure how much of
each solute will dissolve in 100 g of the solvent.

Solute Solubility / grams of solute in

100 g of water at 20 °C
sodium chloride 36
copper sulfate 32
calcium chloride 74
potassium chlorate 7
lead chloride 1

Questions
1 What is a saturated solution?
2 How much potassium chlorate would dissolve in 200 g water at 20 °C?
SE 3 Use the data in the table to draw a bar chart to show the solubility of
the various solutes in water at 20 °C.

Temperature and solubility

Most solutes will dissolve more quickly and easily in hot water than in cold water.
You can also dissolve a greater mass of the solute in hot water than in the same
volume of cold water. In other words, as temperature increases, the solubility of
most solutes also increases.
For example, if you have 100 g of water at 20 °C, you can dissolve 204 g of sugar
in it. If you heat the water to 80 °C, you can dissolve 362 g of sugar in it.

Questions
4 How much sugar can be dissolved in 250 g of water at 20 °C?
5 How much more sugar can be dissolved if the 250 g of water is heated
to 80 °C?

Water is not the only solvent. Some substances that are insoluble in water will
dissolve in other solvents. Some types of ink are soluble in alcohol but not water.

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8 Mixtures 103