Solution: It is the homogenous mixture of solute and solvent.
Solution: A homogeneous mixture of one or more substances (solutes) dispersed molecularly
in a sufficient quantity of dissolving medium (solvent). The solute may be gas, liquid, or solid;
the solvent is usually liquid, but may be solid, as in a solid solution of copper in silver (sterling
silver).
Solute: A substance dissolved in a solvent.
Solvent: A substance, usually a liquid, that dissolves or that is capable of dissolving; the
component of a solution that is present in greater amount.
Aqueous solution: A solution in which water is used as the solvent.
Saturated solution: A solution in which the solvent has taken up all of the dissolved substance
that it can hold in solution.
Supersaturated solution: An unstable solution that contains more of the solute than it can
permanently hold.
Standard solution: A solution of known strength.
Molar solution or gram molecular solution: A solution each liter of which contains 1 mole
of solute per liter of solution.
Molal solution: A solution containing 1 mole of solute dissolved in 1 kg of solvent.
Normal solution: A solution in which each liter contains 1 equivalent weight of the dissolved
substance.
Buffer solution: A solution which resists appreciable change in its hydrogen ion concentration
when acid or alkali is added to it.
Benedict solution: An aqueous solution of sodium citrate, sodium carbonate, and copper
sulfate. Its normal blue color changes to yellow, orange, or red in the presence of a reducing
sugar such as glucose. It is used in urinalysis.
Ideal solution is a solution with thermodynamic properties analogous to those of a mixture of
ideal gases.
Ideal gas is a theoretical gas composed of many randomly moving point particles whose only
interaction is perfectly elastic collision.
They obey ideal gas law: pV = nRT
1 mole of an ideal gas has a volume of 22.710947 litres at STP.
STP = 273.15 K & 105 Pa.
True solution: One in which the solute and solvent molecules are uniformly mixed at
molecular level forming a single phase.
Colloidal solution: A dispersoid, emulsoid, or suspensoid.
Sol is the liquid phase of a colloidal solution.
Here the dispersed phase (discontinuous phase) is solid and the dispersion medium (continuous
phase) is liquid and together they form a liquid mixture. Example- albumin solution.
Gel is the viscous, semisolid phase of a colloidal solution.
Here the dispersed phase (discontinuous phase) is solid and the dispersion medium (continuous
phase) is liquid but together they form a semi-rigid network. Example- jelly.
Aerosol is a type of solution in which the dispersion medium (continuous phase) is a gas.
Examples- fog, MDI.
Suspension: A liquid mixture in which solid particles are dispersed throughout a liquid
medium in which they are insoluble. Example- antacid suspension.
Here the dispersed phase is solid and the particles are large enough to settle out of mixture. The
particles are of > 1000 millimicron in diameter.
Emulsion: A liquid mixture of two immiscible liquids in which one liquid is dispersed in small
globules throughout another liquid. Example- mixture of oil & water.
Here both the dispersed phase (e.g. oil) and the dispersion medium (e.g. water) are liquids, the
dispersed liquid being the discontinuous phase and the dispersion medium the continuous
phase.
Immiscible: Not susceptible to being mixed (that do not mix easily).
We say:
NaCl is dissolved in water because it makes a true solution.
Fat is dispersed in water because it does not make a true solution but emulsion.
In blood:
Crystalloids from true solution.
Proteins form colloidal solution.
Fats form emulsion.
RBCs form suspension.
Colligative properties: Properties of a solution that depend on the number of solute particles
per unit volume. These include:
Osmotic pressure
Elevation of boiling point
Vapor pressure lowering
Freezing point depression.
