(Chapter 23.3)

v  Solubility—the amount of a substance that can dissolve in a solvent

·       It depends on the chemical structure of the substance

·       different substances have different solubilities

o     Ex.: 5 times more sugar than salt can dissolve in a cup of water

o     We would say that sugar is more soluble than salt; in other words, it dissolves better in water

v  Concentration—how much of a substance is dissolved in a solvent

·       A concentrated solution has a lot of the solute in the solvent	·       A dilute solution has a small amount solute in the solvent

·       Concentration can also be expressed more precisely as a percent by volume of the solute (ex. 10% fruit juice)

v  Three types of solutions

Unsaturated solution	Saturated solution	Supersaturated solution
able to dissolve more solute at a given temperature	contains all the solute it can hold at a given temperature	contains more solute than a saturated solution at the same temperature

·       A supersaturated solution is made by raising the temperature of a saturated solution, adding more solute, then lowering the temperature again.  It is unstable and will crystallize if disturbed.