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๐ฌ Think about it
Stir sugar into a cup of tea and it disappears. The sugar is the solute, the tea is the solvent, and the sweet drink is a solution. Like a guest blending into a crowd, the solute spreads evenly. Let's name the parts.
What are solute, solvent, and solution?
- A solution is a uniform mixture, like salt or sugar in water.
- The solid that dissolves is the solute.
- The liquid that dissolves it is the solvent.
- The solute dissolves in the solvent to form the solution.
Example:
In sugar-water, sugar is the solute, water is the solvent, and sugar-water is the solution.
Solute + Solvent → Solution
Solute
The solid that dissolves, like sugar.
+
Solvent
The liquid that dissolves it, like water.
↓
Solution (a uniform mixture)
If two liquids are mixed, which one is the solute?
- Sometimes it is unclear which liquid dissolves the other.
- The substance in smaller amount is the solute.
- The substance in larger amount is the solvent.
Example:
In gulab jamun syrup, lots of sugar is dissolved in little water, yet water is still the solvent and sugar the solute.
๐ก Ever heard of ...
- The chashni of gulab jamun has lots of sugar in little water.
- Sugar (solid) is the larger amount; water (liquid) is smaller.
- Even so, water is the solvent and sugar is the solute.
Important Points
- A solution is a uniform mixture of solute and solvent.
- Solid solute dissolves in liquid solvent.
- Between two liquids, the smaller amount is the solute.
Important Definitions
- Solution — a uniform mixture formed when a solute dissolves in a solvent.
- Solute — the substance that dissolves (the solid, or the liquid present in smaller amount).
- Solvent — the substance that does the dissolving (the liquid, or the one in larger amount).
๐ NCERT Question 1 — State whether the statements
Decide whether statements about solubility, mass, mixtures, and solutions are true or false; correct the false ones.
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