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AP Chemistry 1.4 Composition of Mixtures Study Notes - New Syllabus 2024-2025

AP Chemistry 1.4 Composition of Mixtures Study Notes- New syllabus

AP Chemistry 1.4 Composition of Mixtures Study Notes – AP Chemistry – per latest AP Chemistry Syllabus.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE

  • Explain the quantitative relationship between the elemental composition by mass and the composition of substances in a mixture.

Key Concepts: 

  • Composition of Mixtures

AP Chemistry-Concise Summary Notes- All Topics

Composition of Mixtures

Unlike pure substances, which have a fixed composition, mixtures contain two or more substances (elements or compounds) that are physically combined. The composition of a mixture can vary, and the substances retain their own chemical identities.

Key Features of Mixtures

  1. Components are not chemically bonded.
  2. Composition can be variable (not fixed like pure substances).
  3. Separation can be done by physical methods (filtration, distillation, chromatography, etc.).
  4. Properties of mixtures depend on the proportion of components present.

Quantitative Representation of Mixture Composition

To describe the composition of mixtures, chemists often use:

Mass percent:

\( \% \, \text{Component} = \dfrac{\text{mass of component}}{\text{total mass of mixture}} \times 100 \)

Mole fraction:

\( X_A = \dfrac{n_A}{n_{total}} \)

where \( n_A \) is the number of moles of component A and \( n_{total} \) is the total number of moles of all components.

Parts per million (ppm):

\( \text{ppm} = \dfrac{\text{mass of solute}}{\text{mass of solution}} \times 10^6 \)

Parts per billion (ppb):

\( \text{ppb} = \dfrac{\text{mass of solute}}{\text{mass of solution}} \times 10^9 \)

Mass-to-mass, mass-to-volume, and volume-to-volume ratios are also used depending on the type of mixture.

Example 

A mixture contains 20 g of NaCl and 80 g of water. Calculate the mass percent of NaCl in the mixture.

▶️ Answer/Explanation

Total mass = 20 g + 80 g = 100 g
\( \% \, \text{NaCl} = \dfrac{20}{100} \times 100 = 20.0\% \)

Example 

A gaseous mixture contains 2 mol of \( \text{O}_2 \), 3 mol of \( \text{N}_2 \), and 1 mol of \( \text{CO}_2 \). Calculate the mole fraction of each gas.

▶️ Answer/Explanation

Total moles = 2 + 3 + 1 = 6
\( X_{O_2} = \dfrac{2}{6} = 0.333 \)
\( X_{N_2} = \dfrac{3}{6} = 0.500 \)
\( X_{CO_2} = \dfrac{1}{6} = 0.167 \)

Example 

A water sample contains 0.002 g of lead ions in 1.0 kg of water. Express the concentration in ppm.

▶️ Answer/Explanation

Mass of solution = 1000 g
\( \text{ppm} = \dfrac{0.002}{1000} \times 10^6 = 2.0 \, \text{ppm} \)

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