If a sample of sodium chloride with a mass of
25.0 grams is placed into enough water to
make a 250-milliliter solution, what is the
molarity of the solution? What is the molarity
if enough water is added to the original
solution to make the total volume 1.2 liters?
Original (concentrated) solution: 25 g NaCl in a 250 mL solution, solve for molarity
Final (diluted) solution: More water is added to make the new total volume 1.2 liters, solve for the new molarity
1. Solve for the molarity of the original (concentrated) solution.
Molarity (M) = moles of solute (mol) / liters of solution (L)
Convert the given information to the appropriate units before plugging in and solving for molarity.
Molarity (M) = 0.43 mol NaCl solute / 0.250 L solution = 1.7 M NaCl (original solution)
2. Solve for the molarity of the final (diluted) solution.
Remember that the amount of solute remains constant in a dilution problem; it is just the total volume of the solution that changes due to the addition of solvent.