What is Molarity and How to Calculate It?
Molarity is the number of moles of solute per liter of solution. It is a measure of the concentration of a solution, and it is commonly used in chemistry to express the strength of a solution.
To calculate molarity, you need to know the number of moles of solute present in a given volume of solution. The formula for molarity is:
Molarity = number of moles of solute / volume of solution (in liters)
For example, if you have 1 mole of sodium chloride (NaCl) in 1 liter of water, the molarity of the solution would be:
Molarity = 1 mole NaCl / 1 liter H2O = 1 mole/L
In general, the higher the molarity of a solution, the more concentrated it is. Solutions with high molarities are often used in scientific research and industrial applications where a high concentration of a particular substance is needed.
What is the difference between molarity and normality ?
Molarity and normality are both measures of the concentration of a solution, but they differ in their definitions and how they are calculated.
Molarity is defined as the number of moles of solute per liter of solution, and it is calculated by dividing the number of moles of solute by the volume of solution in liters.
Normality, on the other hand, is defined as the number of equivalent weights of solute per liter of solution, and it is calculated by dividing the number of equivalents of solute by the volume of solution in liters.
The main difference between molarity and normality is that molarity measures the actual number of moles of solute present in a solution, while normality measures the number of equivalent weights of solute present in a solution.
For example, a solution of sodium chloride (NaCl) in water has a molarity of 1 mole/L, but it also has a normality of 1 equivalent/L, because 1 mole of NaCl weighs 58.4 g and 1 equivalent of NaCl weighs 58.4 g.
In general, molarity is more commonly used in scientific research and industrial applications where the exact number of moles of solute present in a solution is important, while normality is more commonly used in analytical chemistry and biochemistry where the number of equivalent weights of solute present in a solution is more relevant.