UNIT C: PURE SUBSTANCES

AND MIXTURES
Chapter 8: Solutions

What you will learn

Identify the components of a solution

Describe the concentration of a solution in
qualitative and quantitative terms
Describe the difference between saturated and
unsaturated solutions
Describe the processes used to separate mixtures or
solutions into their components

Solutions

Homogeneous; that is, they appear the same

throughout
Can occur as solids, liquids, or gases
For

example, as a gold ring, water, or air

Solid solutions are called alloys; liquid or gaseous

solutions are called solutions
Solutions are made up of solutes and solvents

Solutes

Solutes are substances that dissolve in something

else
For

example, sugar is a solute when you put it in water

because it dissolves

Solvents are substances that other things dissolve in

For

example, water is a solvent when you put sugar in it

because the sugar dissolves

When something can dissolve in another substance,

we say it is soluble
For

example, sugar is soluble in water

Water: the universal solvent

Water is sometimes called the universal solvent

because so many different substances can dissolve
in water
However, some substances cannot dissolve in water,
such as many oils and fats
This is why it is possible, though very difficult, to
clean up oil spills that happen in water, whereas it
would be much harder to remove salt from the
ocean

Solubility

Solubility is the ability of a substance to dissolve in

another substance
What happens to the particles when you put a
soluble substance (solute) in a solvent?
The particles of the solute are attracted to the
particles of the solvent, so they spread around

salt
water

Solubility

What happens to the particles when you put an

insoluble substance into another substance?
The particles of the substances are not attracted to
each other, so they dont spread around; they stick
together

oil

salt

Concentration

Concentration describes the amount of a solute in a

solvent
We can describe concentration in qualitative ways
and in quantitative ways

Qualitative descriptions

Qualitative means you describe the quality of

something (use adjectives)
If there is a lot of solute in a solvent we say it is
concentrated
If there is not a lot of solute in a solvent we say it is
dilute

Quantitative descriptions

Quantitative means you describe the quantity of

something (use numbers)
For example, if we dissolve 5 grams of salt in 500
mL of water, we describe it this way: 5g/500mL
This could also be described as 1g/100mL

Saturation

There is a limit to how much of a solute you can

dissolve in a solvent
This limit is called the saturation point
When you cannot dissolve any more of a solute in a
solvent, we say the solution is saturated
If you can still dissolve more solute in a solvent, we
say the solution is unsaturated