Module 10: Solutions

Most chemical processes are reactions that happen in solutions. Some of the most important products in industry require a water solution to occur. The complex reactions that happen in our body are also happening in solutions. It is almost impossible to live for one day without encountering a solution of some type. In fact, it is impossible to live for one day without the most important solution: air. A solution is composed of a solute and a solvent. A solute is the component being dissolved, and the solvent is the component doing the dissolving.

In this module, you will learn about the chemistry of solutions. Along your investigation, you will find out why salt is scattered on roads when they are icy, how ice cream is made, what electrolytes are, and why they are important to our health, and why adding a solute to a solution raises its boiling point and lowers its freezing point.

Getting Started

Skyline Caverns, Front Royal Virginia

Solutions are responsible for making very astonishing formations inside of a cave. Water dissolves rock as it travels over and through Earth. As the water mixes with the minerals from the rock, it forms a solution. If this solution finds its way into a cave and drips from the ceiling, a stalactite will form. When the mineral rich water hits the floor of a cave, a stalagmite is created. Sometimes, the water drips for so long that the stalactite and stalagmite connect. When this happens, a column is born. Can you think of any other solutions that exist in nature?

 

Key Vocabulary

To view the definitions for these key vocabulary terms, visit the course glossary.

alloy	homogeneous mixture	Raoult’s Law
aqueous solution	immiscible	solute
colligative properties	ionization	solution
colloid	miscible	solvent
concentration	mixture	stock solution
dilution	molality	supersaturated
dissociation	molarity	suspension
electrolyte	non-colligative properties	Tyndall Effect
heterogeneous mixture	nonelectrolyte	unsaturated