Concentrations of Solutions

 Percent by mass, % (m/m), is computed by dividing the mass of the solute by the mass of the solution. A 30%
sugar solution in water means that 30 grams of sugar is dissolved in 70 grams of water to create 100 grams of
solution.

Percent by mass ,% ( mm )= mass of solute+mass

mass of solute
of solvent
x 100 %

 Percent by volume, % (v/v), another method is to express concentration in volume. Calculations are similar to
those of percent by mass.

Percent by volume % ( vv )= volume

volume of solute
of solution
x 100 %

 Molarity. The most common and one of the most used units of concentration. It is defined as the number of
moles of solute in one liter of solution. Molarity is denoted as M and has the unit of mol/L, and is read as molar.

moles of solute
M=
liter of solution
SAMPLE
what is the molarity of 0.25 mol of NaCl in 300mL of solutions
0.25 mol
M=
0.3 L
M= 0.83 mol/L

 Molality. It is similar to molarity except that the number of moles of solute is divided by 1 kg of solvent rather
that 1 L of solution. Using molality instead of molarity is advised if calculations are performed over different
temperatures since volume is dependent on temperature. The unit for molality is m, which is read as molal

moles of solute
m=
kg of solvent
SAMPLE
3.0 moles of NaCl dissolved in 2000 g of water has a concentration of 1.5 m NaCl- water solution. The
computation is given below:
3 mol NaCl
m=
2 kg water
m = 1.5 mol/kg

 Mole Fraction. Defined as the amount of the component of the solution expressed in moles per mol of solution.
moles of component
Xi=
total moles of all components i solution

 X represents the mole fraction and i denotes the solution component in question. More specifically, the
mole fraction of the solute can be written as XA while the mole fraction of the solvent can be written as
XB. Thus, the expression for XA and XB are as follows:

nA
X A=
n A + nB

nB
X B=
n A + nB

 Where nA is the number of moles of solute and n B is the number of moles of solvent. The sum of the
mole fraction of each component of the solution is always equal to 1.
SAMPLE

What is the mole fraction of HCl in an aqueous solution that contains 44.2 grams HCl and 88.6 grams H 2O?

1 mol HCl
n HCl =44.2 g HCl x =1.21 mol HCl
36.5 g HCl

1 mol H 2 O
n H 2 O=88.6 g H 2 O x =4.92 mol H 2 O
18.0 g H 2 O

n HCl 1.21 mol HCl

X HCl = =
n HCl + nH 2 O 1.21mol HCl+ 4.92 mol H 2 O

X HCl =0.197

n H 2O 4.92 mol H 2 O
X H 2 O= =
n HCl +n H 2O 1.21 mol HCl+4.92 mol H 2 O

X H 2 O=0.803

PRACTICE PROBLEM

MOLALITY

1. What is the molality when 0.75 mol is dissolved in 2.50 L of solvent?

2. What is the molality of a solution containing 75.5 grams sucrose (C12H22O11) in 400.0 grams water?
3. Suppose you had 58.44 g of NaCl and you dissolved it in exactly 2.00 kg of pure water. What would be the
molality of the solution?

MOLE FRACTION

1. A solution is prepared by mixing 25.0 g of water, H 2O, and 25.0 g of ethanol, C2H5OH. Determine the mole
fraction of each substance.
2. What is the mole fraction of NaOH in an aqueous solution that contains 33.9% NaOH by mass?
3. A solution contains 10.0 g pentane (C5H12), 10.0 g hexane (C6H14) and 10.0 g benzene (C6H6). What is the mole
fraction of hexane?