Unit 2.
Concentration Units
2.1 The mole
The mole (abbreviated mol) is the SI unit for a chemical species. It is always associated
with a chemical formula and represents Avogadro’s number (6.022 × 1023) of particles
represented by that formula.
The molar mass (M) of a substance is the mass in grams of 1 mol of that substance.
Molar mass are calculated by summing the atomic masses of all the atoms appearing in a
chemical formula. For example, the molar mass of formaldehyde, CH2O is
MCH2O = (1 ×12.0g) + (2 × 1.0g) + (1 × 16.0 g) = 30.0 g/mol CH2O
That of glucose, C6H12O6, is
MC6H12O6 = (6 ×12.0g) + (12 × 1.0g) + (6 × 16.0 g) = 180.0 g/mol C6H12O6
Thus, 1 mol of formaldehyde has a mass of 30.0 g and 1 mol of glucose has a mass of
180.0 g.
The number of moles of substance is calculated form
(2.1)
Where formula weight represents the atomic or molecular weight of the substance.
Since many experiments deal with very small quantities, a more convenient form of
measurement is the millimole. The formula for calculating the millimoles is
(2.2)
Just we can calculate the number of moles from the gram of materials; we can likewise
calculate the grams of material from the number of moles:
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Again, we usually work with millimole quantities, so
(2.3)
Note that g/mole is the same as mg/mol, g/L the same as mg/mL, and mol/L the same as
mmol/mL.
Example 2.1
2.5 How Do We Express Concentration of Solutions
Chemist express solution concentrations in a number of ways. Some are more useful than
others in quantitative calculations. We will review here the common concentration units
that chemist use. Their use in quantitative volumetric calculations is treated in more detail
below.
Molarity
The molarity of a solution gives the total number of moles of a solute in 1 L of the
solution (or the total number of millimoles in 1 mL).
For example, a sulfuric acid solution that has an analytical concentration of 1.0 M can be
prepared by dissolving 1.0 mol, or 98 g, of H2SO4 in water and diluting to exactly 1.0 L.
More generally, the molarity of a solution is expressed as moles per liter or as
millimoles per milliliter.
cx = no. mole solute = no. mmol solute
no. L solution no. mL solution
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Example 2.3
Normality
Normality of a solution is defined as “the number of gram equivalents of solute dissolved per
liter of a solution”.
Normality (N) = gram equivalent of solute
Volume of solution in liter
Where gram equivalent of a solute is the equivalent weight of a substance expressed in
grams.
Gram equivalent = weight of solute in gram
Equivalent weight of solute
Thus normality is given as
Normality (N) = weight of solute in gram × 1 _________
Equivalent weight of solute Volume of solution in liter
Equivalent weight is the formula weight divided by the number of reacting units.
For acids and bases, the number of reacting units is based on the number of protons (i.e.,
hydrogen ions) an acid will furnish or a base will react with.
For oxidation-reduction reactions it is based on the number of electrons an oxidizing or
reducing agent will take on or supply.
Thus, for example, sulfuric acid, H2SO4, has two reacting units of protons; that is, there are
two equivalents of protons in each mole. Therefore,
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(2.3)
(2.4
Molality (m)
In addition to molarity and normality, another useful concentration unit is molality, m. A
one-molal solution contains one mole per 1000 g of solvent. The molal concentration is
convenient in physiochemical measurements of the colligative properties of substances,
such as freezing point depression, vapor pressure lowering, and osmotic pressure because
colligative properties depends solely on the number of solute particles present in solution
per mole of solvent. Molal concentrations are not temperatures dependent as molar and
normal concentration are (since the solvent volume in molar and normal concentrations is
temperature dependent).
Formality (F)
The number of grams of formula masses of solute dissolved per litre of solution is known
as the formality of a solution. The sign F represents the formality of a solution. Normality
and formality have a lot in common.
The term formality is frequently used to define the concentration of ionic solids made up
of networks of ions rather than molecules. A formal solution is a solution with a formality
of one and contains a one-gramme formula mass of solute per litre of solutions. The total
of the atomic masses of all the atoms in a formula unit of a compound could be expressed
as the formula mass of any substance. It is often referred to as formula weight.
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For example, A liquid containing 0.1 mol of Na+ and 0.1 mol of Cl– is obtained by
dissolving 0.1 mol of NaCl in 1 L of water.
The formality of any solution is a temperature-dependent parameter, which means that
the formality of a solution changes as the temperature changes. The word formality is
used to differentiate the number of moles of just a chemical from the number of moles of
ions in a weak electrolyte and ionic compound solutions.
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Percentage concentration
Percentage by weight (w/w %)
It is the number of grams of solute dissolved in sufficient amount of solvent to make 100 g of
solution.
w/w % = weight of solute × 100
weight of solution
10% solution of glucose by weight means that 10 grams of glucose are dissolved in sufficient
water so that solution weight 100 grams.
Percentage weight by volume (w/v %)
It is the weight of solute dissolved in per 100 parts by volume of solution.
w/v % = weight of solute × 100
Volume of solution
10 grams NaOH dissolved per 100 mL of solution is 10% w/v solution of NaOH.
Percentage volume by weight (v/w %)
It is the number of mL of solute dissolved per 100 g of volume by weight of solution.
v/w % = volume of solute × 100
weight of solution
10% v/w alcohol solution means that 10 mL of alcohol are dissolved in sufficient water so that
solution weight is 100 grams.
Percentage volume by volume (v/v %)
It is the volume of solute present per 100 mL of the solution.
v/v % = volume of solute × 100
volume of solution
10% v/v alcohol solution means that 10 mL of alcohol is dissolved in water so that the solution
volume is 100 mL.
Parts per million (ppm)
The number of parts (by weight or volume) of a solute per million parts by weight or volume
of the solution.
It is necessary to express concentration interm of parts per million for very dilute solution.
ppm = weight or volume of solute × 106
weight or volume of solution
The impurities of substance in water in expressed by this unit.
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Parts per billion (ppb)
The number of parts (by weight or volume) of a solute per billion parts by weight or volume
of the solution.
Ppb is ued for very low concentration of solution.
ppb = weight or volume of solute × 109
weight or volume of solution
Converting between concentration Units
Converting % age into molarity
Find the molarity of 21% (w/v) solution of NaCl.
Begin by figuring out how many grams of solute you have in how much solution. Since the
amount of solution, you have will not change the concentration you can just assume 100
mL of solution.
So then:
Solving for the mass of solute you find:
This means that there are 21 grams of NaCl in every 100 mL of solution. To find molarity
you will need to convert this number of grams into moles by using the molar mass of NaCl:
To find the molarity, you can divide the number of moles by the volume of the solute (in
liters):
This means that a 21% w/v solution of NaCl is the same as a 3.6 solution of NaCl. In this
way, you can convert between concentration designations.
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Converting Molarity into molality (M → m)
The information most often utilized for converting between molarity and molality is density
(g/ml).
Example Problem (M → m)
Find the molality of 18 M H2SO4. This solution has a density of 1.84 g/mL.
Step 1: Assume that you have 1 L of the solution.
Step 2: with that assumption made, you can them multiply the density by 1 L to determine
the number of grams of solution.
d= m/v m= d × v
1 L = 1000 mL
1.84 g × 1000 mL = 1840 g of solution
Step 3: Now you need to determine how many grams of H2SO4 were present. You assumed
you have 1 L of solution, so that means you have 18 moles of H2SO4. Convert 18 moles of
H2SO4 to grams.
Grams of H2SO4 = moles of H2SO4 × molar mass of H2SO4
18 mol H2SO4 × 98.08 g H2SO4 = 1765. 62 g H2SO4
Step 4: now determine how many grams of solvent.
Mass of solvent = Mass of solution - mass of solute
= 1840 g of solution - 1765.62 g of H2SO4 = 74.38 g solvent
Step 5: determine molality.
Molality = moles of solute/ mass of solvent (Kg)
18 mol H2SO4/ .07439 kg = 242 m H2SO4
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So, the molality of H2SO4 is 242 m.
Converting molality into Molarity (m → M)
Example Problem (m -> M)
An aqueous solution of Na2SO4 has a concentration of 0.370 m. Its density is 1.0436 g/mL.
What is Molarity?
Step 1: Assume that you have 1 kg of solvent.
Step 2: Determine the amount of Na2SO4 you have.
Grams of Na2SO4 = moles of Na2SO4 × molar mass of Na2SO4
= 0.370 mol Na2SO4 × 142.04 g Na2SO4 = 52.55 g Na2SO4
Step 3: calculate the total grams of solution.
1000 g + 52.55 g Na2SO4= 1052.55 g
Step 4: convert the grams of solution to L using density.
d= m/v v = m/d
1052.55 g /1.0436 g/mL = 1008.57 mL
1008.57 mL/ 1000 mL = 1.01 L
Step 5: solve for molarity.
Molarity = moles of solute/ volume of solution (L)
= .370 mol Na2SO4/ 1.01 L = = 0.366 M Na2SO4
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Converting between "ppm" and molarity
The definition of parts per million:
1 g solute per 1,000,000 g solution
Now, divide both values by 1000 to get a new definition for ppm:
ppm = 0.001 g per 1,000 g solution
or:
ppm = 1 mg solute per 1 kg solution
Then, for an aqueous solution:
ppm = 1 mg solute per liter of solution so 1ppm = 1 mg/L
This last one works because the solution concentration is so low that we can assume the
solution density to be 1.00 g/mL.
Also, it's this last modification of ppm (the mg/L one) that allows us to go to molarity (which
has units of mol/L).
The best way to explain this is by doing some examples.
Example #1: Convert 78.0 ppm of Ca2+ ions to mol/L
Solution:
1) By the last definition of ppm just above:
78.0 ppm = 78 mg Ca2+ / L of solution = 0.0780 g/L
2) Divide by the atomic weight for calcium ion:
0.0780 g/L / 40.08 g/mol = 0.00195 mol/L (to three sig figs)
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Example #2: Calculate the molarity of a dye concentration given the molar mass is of the
dye 327 g/mol and a dye concentration of 2 ppm.
Solution:
1) Convert ppm to a gram-based concentration:
2 ppm = 2 mg dye / L of solution
2a) Using 0.002 g/L, calculate the molarity:
0.002 g/L divided by 327 g/mol = 6.1 x 10-6 M
2b) Using 2 mg/L, calculate the molarity.
2 mg/L divided by 327,000 mg/mol = 6.1 x 10-6 M
You might want to go back to problem #1 and try out 78 mg/L with the atomic weight of
calcium ion expressed as mg/mol instead of g/mol.
Best of Luck
Dr. Muhammad Naeem Khan
Assistant Professor
Department of Chemistry
Allama Iqbal Open University
Islamabad
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