http://www.ck12.org Chapter 3. Chemical Interactions
3.51 Solution Concentration
- Define the concentration of a solution.
- Contrast concentrated and dilute solutions.
- Show how to calculate the concentration of a solution.
Dante was shopping for juice and saw a bottle of juice concentrate. He read the label and learned that some of the
water had been removed from the juice before it was bottled, so the concentrate had to be mixed with water before
drinking. Next to the bottle of juice was a can of juice. The canned juice was ready to drink. Juice concentrate is an
example of a concentrated solution. Ready-to-drink juice is an example of a dilute solution.
Concentrated and Dilute Solutions
A solution is a mixture of two or more substances in which dissolved particles are distributed evenly throughout the
solution. The substance that dissolves in a solution is called the solute, and the substance that does the dissolving is
called the solvent. Theconcentrationof a solution is the amount of solute in a given amount of solution. A solution
with a lot of dissolved solute has a high concentration and is called a concentrated solution. A solution with little
dissolved solute has a low concentration and is called a dilute solution.
Calculating the Concentration of a Solution
The concentration of a solution represents the percentage of the solution that is the solute. You can calculate the
concentration of a solution using this formula:
Concentration=MassMass(or volume(or volume))of Solutionof Solute ×100%For example, if a 100-gram solution of salt water contains 3 grams of salt, then its concentration is:
Concentration=100g3g ×100%=3%