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tonih79 tonih79
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11 years ago
i understand that dilution is adding water to an acid to reduce its strength.

but every time i try a dilution problem in chemistry, i dont know where to start! is there an equation or rules to follow to do this?
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wrote...
#1
11 years ago
initial volume times initial concentration = final volume times final concentration

MiVi = MfVf

This is the equation you'll use the most for dilution problems.

M = Molarity
V - Volume
i = initial (what you start with)
f = final (what you finish with)

If you have 3 of the answers, you can rearrange the equation so that the one you don't know is by itself on one side of the equation.  Then plug in the values that you know and you'll have your answer.

Hope this helps~
wrote...
#2
11 years ago
Hi.

Use the equation (Mdil)(Vdil)=(Mconc)(Vconc)

Where M is molarity, V is volume and the subscripts dil and conc are diluted and concentrated, respectively.

Therefore, if you are given what molarity the concentrated acid is, say 16 M HCl, you can calculate what volume of HCl needed to make, say, a .5L 1.0 M solution with the following:

(1.0M)(.5L)=(16M)(x)

where x is the volume to add.

In this case, it would be 0.031 L, or 31 mL.

Just make sure you have the same units of volume on each side of the equation.

Hope this helps.
wrote...
#3
11 years ago
Yes.  Use (Initial molarity)x(Initial Volume in Liters) = (Final molarity)x(Final volume in Liters), solving for whatever is most convenient for your problem.

In short, that's
M1L1 = M2L2
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