Week 1 Lab Assignment:

Different Chemical Matters

and
Their Solubility In Aqueous Solutions
Karine Mirakyan
Advanced Chemistry
CHM2021E3
Dr. Ozair
Everglades University
 Different Chemical Matters
And Their Solubility In Aqueous Solutions

The combination of compounds and/or elements in aqueous (H2O) solutions is something

that happens on a daily basis. Gaseous, solid, and liquid compounds all have a different reaction
or emulate different characteristics when dissolved in an aqueous solution. Discussing these
differences can help those who study chemistry to understand the molecular attitudes of the
atoms in these corresponding solutions. This understanding can further help in the analyses and
hypothesis of what may or may not happen to two compounds or elements when they are
combined. This of course depends on the solubility of the two compounds, and with that comes
the knowledge of how molecules act and their electronegativity, which is what allows or does not
allow the molecules to bind together with water, thus making them soluble or not. Being capable
of determining if a compound is polar or nonpolar is the first step in determining its solubility in
aqueous solutions as no nonpolar compound can ever be soluble in water, and even polar
compounds vary in their solubility depending on how many valence electrons there are.
(Nivaldo, 2010) Typically, the higher the valence electron count, which means a higher
electronegativity, the increased chance that it will be more soluble in water.

There are typical compounds added as solutes to an aqueous solution that are liquid
compounds. Such liquid compounds consist of ethanol (C2H5OH), acetic acid (CH3COOH),
ammonia (NH3), etc. These liquid compounds are polar in nature as they have either a strong
hydrogen bond or are ionic compounds that are negatively charged. Water (H2O) is attracted to
compounds that exhibit hydrogen bonds because of the -OH or -NH atoms that are highly
attracted to the partially negative oxygen atom in water. (Nivaldo, 2010) Most polar compounds
that are liquid at room temperature tend to be compounds that have a hydrogen bond. There are a
few polar liquid compounds that are ionic compounds, however this is not the normal existence
of most ionic compounds, which tend to be solids at room temperature. When mixing liquid
polar compounds, most tend to exhibit an exothermic reaction as most liquid polar compounds
are mainly hydrogen bonds and it takes away energy as the hydrogen atoms of the solute
combine with the hydrogen atoms of water. For example, with the mixture of ethanol and water:
 C2​H5​OH(l)+H2​O(l)→C2​H5​OH(aq)

The hydration bonds between water and ethanol create a homogenous mixture that has the same
products and reactants. (Vertical Science, n.d.) With the hydrogen bond, energy is released
slightly to allow the hydrogen atoms to bond, so the aqueous solution will exhibit a slight
warming. When a liquid polar compound has reached full saturation, if any more are added
(excluding compounds that are miscible with water such as ethanol) then the supersaturated
solution will create a layer where the liquid solute is separated from the solvent water.

The most common aqueous solutions are created with a polar solid compound in
combination with water. Most polar solid compounds that are combined with water to create
aqueous solutions are: sodium chloride (NaCl), potassium nitrate (KNO3), ammonium chloride
(NH4Cl), and citric acid (C6H8O7). Solid polar compounds are mainly ionic compounds that
have high or somewhat high electronegativity as the valence electrons of the compound are
attracted to the partially positive hydrogen atoms of water. (Singh, 2020) In the example of
potassium nitrate (KNO3), the partially negative oxygen atoms attract the positive potassium
ions, while the partially positive hydrogen atoms attract the negative nitrate ions. The product
creates a dissociation of the potassium nitrate into its ions :

KNO3(s) + H2O(l) → K(aq) + NO3(aq)

Some solid polar compounds have hydrogen atoms which create hydrogen bonds with water
molecules. Citric acid is an example of which a hydrogen bond is being created with the H2O to
give an aqueous solution of citric acid(l). Because citric acid and water are highly attracted to
each other due to the appearance of carboxylic acid group (-COOH) and hydroxyl group (-OH)
bonding with the positive hydrogen atoms, the solution is considered miscible:

C6H8O7(s) + H2O(l) → C6H8O7(aq)

However, it is important to remember that not all compounds that undergo hydrogen bonding
with water are miscible, as miscibility is affected by the size and shape of the molecules as well
as their functional group arrangements. When the solubility of solid compounds have reached
full saturation, the remaining solute will remain as a precipitate at the bottom of the container
used to mix. The only way to change the point of saturation or to have the solute become soluble
past the saturation point is to apply temperature and/or pressure changes to the solution.
(Nivaldo, 2010)

With gas compounds that are polar, the combination of water is an interesting one
chemically. Most polar gas compounds are mixed with water with either hydrogen bonds or
dipole-dipole bonds. (LibreTexts, 2023) In gas and water aqueous solution, the solubility is
directly in correlation to the partial pressure of the gas. This is what is known as Henry’s Law,
and it is interesting because of the fact that the solubility of gas in water is very reliant upon
pressure, which is different from that of a liquid or solid compound. (Lu, 2022) There are gases
that can be soluble in water without the need for an increase in pressure to further its solubility.
One such gas is ammonia (NH3), which forms a hydrogen bond with water to release ammonium
hydroxide:

NH3​(g) + H2​O(l) → NH4​OH(aq)

In this solution, the solute reacts quickly with the solvent and therefore is very soluble with the
water molecules. Some gasses, however, tend to need an increase in pressure to become more
soluble in water. One such example is carbon dioxide, which has a lower solubility in its standard
state. As an increase in pressure is applied to the solution, the solubility is also increased, as
mentioned before by Henry’s Law. With carbon dioxide, the most popular example is carbonated
fizzy drinks that most people consume. This drink however would not happen in its standard
state, but rather the fizziness of the carbonated drinks are a cause of the supersaturation of the
carbon dioxide compound in water suddenly being released when we open the pressurized soda
bottle. This is typical of aqueous solutions of a gas and water, as supersaturation will cause the
excess gas particles to precipitate in standard state. If pressure is increased, the gas compound
will become more soluble, however as the pressure is suddenly dropped, the gas compound will
dramatically precipitate much quicker.
 Solubility in aqueous solutions is often deemed as a rather complex phenomenon when
one does not know the basic factors of the rules of solubility in H2O. As the factors of polar
solid, liquid, and gas compounds are discussed, the solubility of aqueous solutions becomes
much more easier to understand as the molecular rules become clear when pertaining to each
state of matter. Understanding these rules of matter as well as how they react with water brings a
clearer notion of solubility altogether.
 References

Libretexts. (2023, July 12). 13.5: Solubilities of gases. Chemistry LibreTexts.

https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/General_Chemistry/Map%3A_General_Chemistry
_(Petrucci_et_al.)/13%3A_Solutions_and_their_Physical_Properties/13.05%3A_Solubiliti
es_of_Gases

Lu, J. X. (2022, September 12). Biochemistry, dissolution and solubility. StatPearls

[Internet]. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK431100/

Singh, A. P., Singh, N., & Singh, A. P. (2020). Solubility: An overview. International
Journal of Pharmeceutical Chemistry and Analysis.
https://www.ipinnovative.com/open-access-journals

Nivaldo, T. J. (2010). Chapter 14: Solutions. In Chemistry: A Molecular Approach Fifth

Edition. essay, Pearson.