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Introduction
What is Colligative Property?
Colligative properties are properties of solutions that depend on the number of particles in a given volume of solvent and not on the mass of the particles. Colligative properties include: lowering of vapor pressure; elevation of boiling point; depression of freezing point; osmotic pressure (see Osmosis; Reverse Osmosis). Measurements of these properties for a dilute aqueous solution of a non-ionized solute such as urea or glucose can lead to accurate determinations of relative molecular masses. Alternatively, measurements for ionized solutes can lead to an estimation of the percentage of ionization taking place.
What is boiling pint elevation?
Boiling-point elevation describes the phenomenon that the boiling point of a liquid (a solvent) will be higher when another compound is added, meaning that a solution has a higher boiling point than a pure solvent. This happens whenever a non-volatile solute, such as a salt, is added to a pure solvent, such as water.
The boiling point elevation is a colligative property, which means that it is dependent on the presence of dissolved particles and their number, but not their identity. It is an effect of the dilution of the solvent in the presence of a solute. It is a phenomenon that happens for all solutes in all solutions, even in ideal solutions, and does not depend on any specific solute-solvent interactions. The boiling point elevation happens both when the solute is an electrolyte, such as various salts, and a nonelectrolyte. In thermodynamic terms, the origin of the boiling point elevation is entropic and can be explained in terms of the vapor pressure or chemical potential of the solvent. In both cases, the explanation depends on the fact that many solutes are only present in the liquid phase and do not enter into the gas phase (except at extremely high temperatures).
How can the molecular weight of a solute be determined...