Concentration of Solutions

How do you take your tea? Some people prefer their tea very concentrated, so they leave the tea bag in hot water for several minutes. Other people immerse the tea bag for only a minute or two, because they prefer their tea much less concentrated, or dilute. The resulting solutions differ in how much solute is present. The concentration of a solution is the amount of solute dissolved in a specified amount of solution. Concentration can be expressed as percent by volume, percent by mass, and molarity.

Figure 12 The juice squeezed from fruit is already a solution. Most bottled or canned juices are less-concentrated solutions of fruit juices, made by adding water. Percent by volume is a way to measure the concentration of one liquid dissolved in another.

A label for Smith's Cranberry Juice, from Black River Falls, Wisconsin.d
Percent by Volume

Fruit juice bottles often have labels, such as the one in Figure 12, that state the percentage of “real juice” in the bottle. For example, if 27 percent of the total volume of liquid is fruit juice, the concentration of fruit juice is 27 percent by volume. Use the following equation to calculate concentration as a percent by volume.

Percent by volume=Volume of soluteVolume of solution×100%
Percent by Mass

Concentration expressed as a percent by mass is more useful when the solute is a solid. Percent by mass is the percent of a solution's total mass that is accounted for by a solute.

Percent by mass=Mass of soluteMass of solution×100%

Suppose you have 100 grams of a solution of sugar in water. After allowing the water to evaporate, 15 grams of sugar remain. So, the concentration of sugar in the solution was 15 percent by mass.


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Table of Contents

Physical Science CHAPTER 1 Science Skills CHAPTER 2 Properties of Matter CHAPTER 3 States of Matter CHAPTER 4 Atomic Structure CHAPTER 5 The Periodic Table CHAPTER 6 Chemical Bonds CHAPTER 7 Chemical Reactions CHAPTER 8 Solutions, Acids, and Bases CHAPTER 9 Carbon Chemistry CHAPTER 10 Nuclear Chemistry CHAPTER 11 Motion CHAPTER 12 Forces and Motion CHAPTER 13 Forces in Fluids CHAPTER 14 Work, Power, and Machines CHAPTER 15 Energy CHAPTER 16 Thermal Energy and Heat CHAPTER 17 Mechanical Waves and Sound CHAPTER 18 The Electromagnetic Spectrum and Light CHAPTER 19 Optics CHAPTER 20 Electricity CHAPTER 21 Magnetism CHAPTER 22 Earth's Interior CHAPTER 23 Earth's Surface CHAPTER 24 Weather and Climate CHAPTER 25 The Solar System CHAPTER 26 Exploring the Universe Skills and Reference Handbook