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Multiple Choice
According to Raoult's law, how does the presence of a nonvolatile solute B affect the vapor pressure of a liquid solvent A?
A
The vapor pressure of solvent A increases.
B
The vapor pressure of solvent A remains unchanged.
C
The vapor pressure of solvent A decreases.
D
The vapor pressure of solvent A becomes equal to the vapor pressure of solute B.
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검증된 단계별 안내
1
Raoult's law states that the vapor pressure of a solvent in a solution is directly proportional to the mole fraction of the solvent. This can be expressed as: , where is the vapor pressure of the solvent in the solution, is the mole fraction of the solvent, and is the vapor pressure of the pure solvent.
When a nonvolatile solute is added to the solvent, the mole fraction of the solvent decreases because the total number of moles in the solution increases, but the number of moles of the solvent remains the same.
According to Raoult's law, since the mole fraction of the solvent decreases, the vapor pressure of the solvent in the solution also decreases.
The presence of a nonvolatile solute does not contribute to the vapor pressure because it does not evaporate. Therefore, the vapor pressure of the solution is solely due to the solvent.
Thus, the correct answer is that the vapor pressure of solvent A decreases when a nonvolatile solute B is added.