Vapor Pressure - MCAT Physical

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Question

A nonvolatile solute is added to a solution so that it makes up 5% of the molecules in the solution. Which of the following is true?

Answer

When a nonvolatile solute is added to a solvent, it will not contribute to the molecules which exert pressure on the container. It will, however, take up some of the surface area interacting with the air in the container. This reduces the number of solvent molecules that are able to break from their bonds and become gas molecules in the container. The reduction of vapor pressure is dependent on the percentage of solute molecules in the solution. Since 5% of the molecules in this solution come from the solute, the vapor pressure will be 95% of the pure solvent's vapor pressure.

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Question

A volatile solute with a vapor pressure of 80mmHg is added to a solvent with a vapor pressure of 120mmHg. Consider the resulting solution to be ideal in nature. The solution's vapor pressure is determined to be 93mmHg. What is the percentage of solute molecules found in the solution?

Answer

A volatile solute will contribute to the vapor pressure found in the container. As a result, we have to use Raoult's law, which takes this solute's vapor pressure into consideration.

Raoult's law is written as , where P is the partial pressure for each component and X is the mole fraction of each component.

We must include the vapor pressures of both the solute and the solvent in order to find the percentage composition of the solute in the solution. Since there are only two compounds contributing to vapor pressure in the solution, we can designate the mole fraction of the solute as X and the mole fraction of the solvent as (1-X). Doing this, the equation can be filled in, as below.

or 67.5% solute in the container.

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Question

When a created solution is either exothermic or endothermic, the vapor pressure in the container will deviate from Raoult's law. As a result, the solution is considered non-ideal.

When a solute is added to a solvent, the vapor pressure of the solution is greater than the vapor pressure of either pure solute or pure solvent. Based on this, which statement is true?

Answer

Raoult's law can be written as .

When the formation of a solution has a positive enthalpy, it is considered to be endothermic. An endothermic reaction will result in the solution's vapor pressure being higher than predicted by Raoult's law. This is because an endothermic reaction results in weaker intermolecular bonds, which increases the vapor pressure.

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Question

The addition of a nonvolatile solute to a solvent will raise its boiling point. This is because __________.

Answer

Remember that a nonvolatile solute will lower the vapor pressure of a solvent in proportion to the mole fraction of the solvent (Raoult's Law). Since vapor pressure must equal the atmospheric pressure in order to boil, a greater amount of heat is required to increase the lowered vapor pressure of the solution.

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Question

Boiling point is the temperature a liquid needs to achieve in order to begin its transformation into a gaseous state. Campers and hikers who prepare food during their trips have to account for differences in atmospheric pressure as they ascend in elevation. During the ascent, the decrease in atmospheric pressure changes the temperature at which water boils.

Further complicating the matter is the observation that addition of a solute to a pure liquid also changes the boiling point. Raoult’s Law can be used to understand the changes in boiling point if a non-volatile solute is present, as expressed here.

In this law, is the mole fraction of the solvent, is the vapor pressure of the pure solvent, and is the vapor pressure of the solution. When this vapor pressure is equal to the local atmospheric pressure, the solution boils.

A scientist is testing Raoult's Law, but accidently adds a volatile solute instead of a non-volatile solute. Which of the following is true?

Answer

A volatile solute has its own vapor pressure. As a result, it may lead to a higher total vapor pressure than the solvent in isolation. Since we are not told the vapor pressure of the volatile solute, it can either raise or lower the total vapor pressure. This will depend on the comparison of the vapor pressure of the pure solute and that of the pure solvent. If the solute has higher vapor pressure, then adding it to the solvent will raise the vapor pressure. If the solvent has higher vapor pressure, then adding solute will lower the vapor pressure.

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Question

Boiling point is the temperature a liquid needs to achieve in order to begin its transformation into a gaseous state. Campers and hikers who prepare food during their trips have to account for differences in atmospheric pressure as they ascend in elevation. During the ascent, the decrease in atmospheric pressure changes the temperature at which water boils.

Further complicating the matter is the observation that addition of a solute to a pure liquid also changes the boiling point. Raoult’s Law can be used to understand the changes in boiling point if a non-volatile solute is present, as expressed here.

In this law, is the mole fraction of the solvent, is the vapor pressure of the pure solvent, and is the vapor pressure of the solution. When this vapor pressure is equal to the local atmospheric pressure, the solution boils.

A scientist is studying an unknown solution with a non-volatile solute, and determines that the solute has a mole fraction of 0.36. The original solvent has a vapor pressure of 2atm. What is the vapor pressure of the solution being studied?

Answer

The question gives us the mole fraction of solute, not solvent, thus, we need to realize that the mole fraction of solvent is the difference between one and the given value.

Now we can use Raoult's Law to find the solution vapor pressure.

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Question

Boiling point is the temperature a liquid needs to achieve in order to begin its transformation into a gaseous state. Campers and hikers who prepare food during their trips have to account for differences in atmospheric pressure as they ascend in elevation. During the ascent, the decrease in atmospheric pressure changes the temperature at which water boils.

Further complicating the matter is the observation that addition of a solute to a pure liquid also changes the boiling point. Raoult’s Law can be used to understand the changes in boiling point if a non-volatile solute is present, as expressed here.

In this law, is the mole fraction of the solvent, is the vapor pressure of the pure solvent, and is the vapor pressure of the solution. When this vapor pressure is equal to the local atmospheric pressure, the solution boils.

If a non-volatile solute is added to a solvent, the freezing point of the solution tends to __________ relative to the pure solvent's freezing point.

Answer

Freezing points are decreased, or depressed, with the addition of non-volatile solutes in a similar manner to boiling point elevation. The addition of a solute makes phase changes more difficult, and thus solutions with non-volatile solutes require more heat to boil, or a colder environment to freeze. The solute ions and particles in solution disrupt the forces between solvent molecules, preventing the formation of a solid frozen lattice.

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Question

Boiling point is the temperature a liquid needs to achieve in order to begin its transformation into a gaseous state. Campers and hikers who prepare food during their trips have to account for differences in atmospheric pressure as they ascend in elevation. During the ascent, the decrease in atmospheric pressure changes the temperature at which water boils.

Further complicating the matter is the observation that addition of a solute to a pure liquid also changes the boiling point. Raoult’s Law can be used to understand the changes in boiling point if a non-volatile solute is present, as expressed here.

In this law, is the mole fraction of the solvent, is the vapor pressure of the pure solvent, and is the vapor pressure of the solution. When this vapor pressure is equal to the local atmospheric pressure, the solution boils.

How would you best modify Raoult's Law to find the total vapor pressure of a solution with a volatile solute?

Answer

You would add the contribution of the solute to the total vapor pressure of the solvent. Since the solute is contributing to the total vapor pressure of the solution, it must simply be added to the solvent vapor pressure.

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Question

Which statement is false with regard to vapor pressure?

Answer

Vapor pressure represents a state of dynamic equilibrium in which the rate of liquid escaping to gas is equal to the rate of gas condensing to liquid. Liquids with stronger intermolecular forces have a smaller amount of liquid escaping to gas, and thus have a lower vapor pressure.

Diethyl ether does not create hydrogen bonds, whereas water does. Even though diethyl ether has a greater molecular weight, it will have weaker intermolecular forces. The hydrogen bonding interactions in water will cause molecules to "stick," preventing them from converting to the gas phase and lowering the overall vapor pressure of water. Diethyl ether has a higher vapor pressure than water due to the intermolecular forces of the two compounds.

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Question

At room temperature, toluene has a vapor pressure of 300mmHg and ethanol has a vapor pressure of 45mmHg.

Let us assume that when equimolar amounts of these liquids are mixed together, heat is released. What can be said about the vapor pressure of the resulting solution?

Answer

Since both liquids are volatile, they will both contribute to the solution's vapor pressure. Their impact will be based on their individual vapor pressures, as well as the molar fraction for which each liquid is responsible. This gives us Raoult's law:

Each represents the liquid vapor pressure, and each represents the corresponding molar fraction of that particular liquid. Since we have an equimolar mixture, each liquid accounts for 50% of the solution, or in this case 0.5.

This would result in a solution vapor pressure of 172.5 mmHg if conditions were ideal. However, since the reaction is exothermic, stronger bonds are formed in the solution, and the vapor pressure will be lower than expected.

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Question

Colligative properties are properties of compounds that are altered by the amount of substance present. There are four main colligative properties: boiling point, freezing point, vapor pressure, and osmotic pressure. The change in each of these properties can be calculated using the amount of molecules/ions present in solution and the concentration or partial pressure of the compound. The boiling point is defined as the temperature at which the vapor pressure equals the atmospheric pressure. The freezing point is the temperature at which a liquid is converted to a solid. Vapor pressure is the pressure produced by the vapor above a solution. Osmotic pressure is the pressure required to prevent flow of water into a solution (across a membrane).

Upon addition of salt, a researcher notices that there is an increase in the boiling point of the solution. Which of the following could be the reason for this observation?

Answer

The boiling point is defined as the temperature at which the vapor pressure above the solution equals the atmospheric pressure. Recall that vapor pressure is also a colligative property. The vapor pressure decreases as solutes are added. This means that more energy, in the form of heat, is required to increase the amount of molecules escaping the solution and, subsequently, increase the vapor pressure to that of the atmospheric pressure. This increased demand of energy results in an increased boiling point.

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Question

Colligative properties are properties of compounds that are altered by the amount of substance present. There are four main colligative properties: boiling point, freezing point, vapor pressure, and osmotic pressure. The change in each of these properties can be calculated using the amount of molecules/ions present in solution and the concentration or partial pressure of the compound. The boiling point is defined as the temperature at which the vapor pressure equals the atmospheric pressure. The freezing point is the temperature at which a liquid is converted to a solid. Vapor pressure is the pressure produced by the vapor above a solution. Osmotic pressure is the pressure required to prevent flow of water into a solution (across a membrane).

The vapor pressure above a solvent is . What is the change in vapor pressure if of glucose is added to the solvent? Assume that there are of water present.

Answer

Vapor pressure change is calculated using the following equation.

where is change in vapor pressure, is mole fraction of solute, and is vapor pressure above pure solvent. First, let’s calculate the mole fraction.

The vapor pressure of pure solvent is . Recall that there are in ; therefore, the vapor pressure of pure solvent is . We can now solve for the change in vapor pressure.

This means that the vapor pressure decreased by after the addition of glucose.

Note that vapor pressure also depends on the amount of ions.

where the number of ions. Glucose does not dissolve into ions; therefore, . If we were given another molecule, such as , then we will have to set and calculate accordingly.

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Question

A nonvolatile solute is added to a solution so that it makes up 5% of the molecules in the solution. Which of the following is true?

Answer

When a nonvolatile solute is added to a solvent, it will not contribute to the molecules which exert pressure on the container. It will, however, take up some of the surface area interacting with the air in the container. This reduces the number of solvent molecules that are able to break from their bonds and become gas molecules in the container. The reduction of vapor pressure is dependent on the percentage of solute molecules in the solution. Since 5% of the molecules in this solution come from the solute, the vapor pressure will be 95% of the pure solvent's vapor pressure.

Compare your answer with the correct one above

Question

A volatile solute with a vapor pressure of 80mmHg is added to a solvent with a vapor pressure of 120mmHg. Consider the resulting solution to be ideal in nature. The solution's vapor pressure is determined to be 93mmHg. What is the percentage of solute molecules found in the solution?

Answer

A volatile solute will contribute to the vapor pressure found in the container. As a result, we have to use Raoult's law, which takes this solute's vapor pressure into consideration.

Raoult's law is written as , where P is the partial pressure for each component and X is the mole fraction of each component.

We must include the vapor pressures of both the solute and the solvent in order to find the percentage composition of the solute in the solution. Since there are only two compounds contributing to vapor pressure in the solution, we can designate the mole fraction of the solute as X and the mole fraction of the solvent as (1-X). Doing this, the equation can be filled in, as below.

or 67.5% solute in the container.

Compare your answer with the correct one above

Question

When a created solution is either exothermic or endothermic, the vapor pressure in the container will deviate from Raoult's law. As a result, the solution is considered non-ideal.

When a solute is added to a solvent, the vapor pressure of the solution is greater than the vapor pressure of either pure solute or pure solvent. Based on this, which statement is true?

Answer

Raoult's law can be written as .

When the formation of a solution has a positive enthalpy, it is considered to be endothermic. An endothermic reaction will result in the solution's vapor pressure being higher than predicted by Raoult's law. This is because an endothermic reaction results in weaker intermolecular bonds, which increases the vapor pressure.

Compare your answer with the correct one above

Question

The addition of a nonvolatile solute to a solvent will raise its boiling point. This is because __________.

Answer

Remember that a nonvolatile solute will lower the vapor pressure of a solvent in proportion to the mole fraction of the solvent (Raoult's Law). Since vapor pressure must equal the atmospheric pressure in order to boil, a greater amount of heat is required to increase the lowered vapor pressure of the solution.

Compare your answer with the correct one above

Question

Boiling point is the temperature a liquid needs to achieve in order to begin its transformation into a gaseous state. Campers and hikers who prepare food during their trips have to account for differences in atmospheric pressure as they ascend in elevation. During the ascent, the decrease in atmospheric pressure changes the temperature at which water boils.

Further complicating the matter is the observation that addition of a solute to a pure liquid also changes the boiling point. Raoult’s Law can be used to understand the changes in boiling point if a non-volatile solute is present, as expressed here.

In this law, is the mole fraction of the solvent, is the vapor pressure of the pure solvent, and is the vapor pressure of the solution. When this vapor pressure is equal to the local atmospheric pressure, the solution boils.

A scientist is testing Raoult's Law, but accidently adds a volatile solute instead of a non-volatile solute. Which of the following is true?

Answer

A volatile solute has its own vapor pressure. As a result, it may lead to a higher total vapor pressure than the solvent in isolation. Since we are not told the vapor pressure of the volatile solute, it can either raise or lower the total vapor pressure. This will depend on the comparison of the vapor pressure of the pure solute and that of the pure solvent. If the solute has higher vapor pressure, then adding it to the solvent will raise the vapor pressure. If the solvent has higher vapor pressure, then adding solute will lower the vapor pressure.

Compare your answer with the correct one above

Question

At room temperature, toluene has a vapor pressure of 300mmHg and ethanol has a vapor pressure of 45mmHg.

Let us assume that when equimolar amounts of these liquids are mixed together, heat is released. What can be said about the vapor pressure of the resulting solution?

Answer

Since both liquids are volatile, they will both contribute to the solution's vapor pressure. Their impact will be based on their individual vapor pressures, as well as the molar fraction for which each liquid is responsible. This gives us Raoult's law:

Each represents the liquid vapor pressure, and each represents the corresponding molar fraction of that particular liquid. Since we have an equimolar mixture, each liquid accounts for 50% of the solution, or in this case 0.5.

This would result in a solution vapor pressure of 172.5 mmHg if conditions were ideal. However, since the reaction is exothermic, stronger bonds are formed in the solution, and the vapor pressure will be lower than expected.

Compare your answer with the correct one above

Question

Boiling point is the temperature a liquid needs to achieve in order to begin its transformation into a gaseous state. Campers and hikers who prepare food during their trips have to account for differences in atmospheric pressure as they ascend in elevation. During the ascent, the decrease in atmospheric pressure changes the temperature at which water boils.

Further complicating the matter is the observation that addition of a solute to a pure liquid also changes the boiling point. Raoult’s Law can be used to understand the changes in boiling point if a non-volatile solute is present, as expressed here.

In this law, is the mole fraction of the solvent, is the vapor pressure of the pure solvent, and is the vapor pressure of the solution. When this vapor pressure is equal to the local atmospheric pressure, the solution boils.

A scientist is studying an unknown solution with a non-volatile solute, and determines that the solute has a mole fraction of 0.36. The original solvent has a vapor pressure of 2atm. What is the vapor pressure of the solution being studied?

Answer

The question gives us the mole fraction of solute, not solvent, thus, we need to realize that the mole fraction of solvent is the difference between one and the given value.

Now we can use Raoult's Law to find the solution vapor pressure.

Compare your answer with the correct one above

Question

Boiling point is the temperature a liquid needs to achieve in order to begin its transformation into a gaseous state. Campers and hikers who prepare food during their trips have to account for differences in atmospheric pressure as they ascend in elevation. During the ascent, the decrease in atmospheric pressure changes the temperature at which water boils.

Further complicating the matter is the observation that addition of a solute to a pure liquid also changes the boiling point. Raoult’s Law can be used to understand the changes in boiling point if a non-volatile solute is present, as expressed here.

In this law, is the mole fraction of the solvent, is the vapor pressure of the pure solvent, and is the vapor pressure of the solution. When this vapor pressure is equal to the local atmospheric pressure, the solution boils.

If a non-volatile solute is added to a solvent, the freezing point of the solution tends to __________ relative to the pure solvent's freezing point.

Answer

Freezing points are decreased, or depressed, with the addition of non-volatile solutes in a similar manner to boiling point elevation. The addition of a solute makes phase changes more difficult, and thus solutions with non-volatile solutes require more heat to boil, or a colder environment to freeze. The solute ions and particles in solution disrupt the forces between solvent molecules, preventing the formation of a solid frozen lattice.

Compare your answer with the correct one above

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