14. Solutions
Types of Aqueous Solutions
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Now here we're gonna talk about the different types of aqueous solutions. Now depending on the amount of solute added to our solvent, our solutions can either be saturated, unsaturated, or supersaturated. Now when we talk about the type of solution, we're going to say that our saturated solution is a stable solution, as well as our unsaturated solution. The super saturated solution itself though is unstable. Now the amount of dissolved solute in each, when we're talking about a saturated solution, that means we've reached our maximum amount of solute that's been dissolved. For unsaturated, we say we haven't reached our maximum amount of potentially dissolved solute. So that means additional solute can be dissolved. And then when it comes to our super saturated solution, we're gonna say super means greater than normal. So we've gone beyond our max. We've gone beyond our maximum amount of solute that can be dissolved. What effect does this have on our equilibrium concentration? Well, here, if you're a saturated solution, we've reached our maximum amount of dissolved solute, so we've reached an equilibrium concentration. Now here when you're unsaturated, you can further dissolve more solute because you haven't reached your equilibrium amount, so you're less than the equilibrium concentration. And then finally for supersaturated, we've gone beyond our max. So that means we're gonna have more than our equilibrium concentration. Now if we wanna think about this in terms of visually, in terms of solute being added, so let's say we have a 100 ml of water. This 100 ml of water can dissolve at max 20 grams of solute. So if I took those 20 grams of solute, all of them would be dissolved, and here our water has changed into this purple solution to show that it's a saturated solution. Now, again, we still have the 100 ml of water. Remember, it's maximum amount that it can dissolve is 20 grams of solute. Here, we're not dissolving 20 grams anymore, we're only dissolving 15 grams. So it's not as purple as our saturated solution because there's still room to dissolve an additional 5 grams of solute. And then finally, here we have our super saturated solution. Here, it can dissolve 20 grams max of solute, unless I do things to force it to dissolve an additional amount. Here, one of the things that we can do is increasing the temperature. By increasing the temperature, I can go beyond my 20 grams of solute, and in this case, I'm successfully able to dissolve 23 grams of solute. I have gone 3 grams over my maximum. I am beyond my max amount of solute dissolved. And you can see as a result of this, the solution is even more purple because it's gone beyond its equilibrium concentration. Right? So just remember, a saturated and unsaturated solution are both stable, they happen normally. A super saturated solution is not a stable solution, so it needs additional help. Adding heat is a good way of forcing a super saturated solution to be formed. Alright? So keep this in mind when comparing these 3 different types of solutions.
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