Water as a Universal Solvent

Water as a Universal Solvent

* Because of its high polarity, water is able to dissolve most substances.

* In a solution, the positive hydrogen side of water is attracted to the negative parts if the compound it is dissolving while the negative oxygen is attracted to the positive parts

* “Like dissolves like” – describes whether one substance will dissolve in another. Water for example can’t dissolve nonpolar substances

Concentrations on Solutions

* Solvent: The liquid in which a solute is dissolved to form a solution.

* Solute: The minor component in a solution, dissolved in the solvent.

* The ratio of the amount of solute versus the amount of solvent is the concentration of the solution.

* Solutions can be classified by saturation. Solutions become saturated when the solvent has dissolved all the solute it can hold.

* Under special conditions, solutions can become supersaturated – when the solution holds more solute than it normally can at that temperature

* Solutions can be prepared at any concentration. The difference in the concentrations can bring about differences in the properties of the solution.

* Solutions can appear as liquids, solids and gases
Solubility and the Factors that Affect it

* Solubility: Refers to the greatest amount of solute that a solvent will dissolve before the solution becomes saturated. Solubility is affected by temperature, pressure and the nature of the solute and solvent

* The solubility of a substance depends on the temperature of the solution.

* Temperature doesn’t affect the solubility of all solids the same way, but rise in temperature of the solvent negatively affects the solubility of gases.

* The solubility of liquid or solid substances isn’t affected much by pressure, but gas solubility always increases as pressure increased

* A polar solute dissolves in polar solvents and solubility of a nonpolar solute and solvent is high.