Chemistry · Chapter 3

Dilution: Same Solute, More Room

Adding water adds no solute, so the moles before equal the moles after. That one sentence is the whole of M1V1 = M2V2.

Before and after count the dots

The stock beaker and the diluted beaker, holding the same solute

Molarity against total volume drag the slider below

Molarity falls as total volume grows

The curve is a hyperbola. Double the volume and the molarity halves, every time, because the number of moles on top never changes.

The recipe

Stock molarity M₁ 12.00 M
0.10 M18.00 M
Target molarity M₂ 0.500 M
0.005 M2.000 M
Final volume V₂
20.8mL of stock factor 24.0

Serial dilution

Factor each step
Steps 3
Concentration after each step of a serial dilution