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Chemistry vocabulary · Solutions and Concentration

Solubility

Meaning in chemistry, with examples

/ˌsɒljuˈbɪləti/nounCore term

In chemistry, solubility means: The maximum amount of a substance that can dissolve in a given amount of solvent at a certain temperature, often given in grams per 100 g of water.

In Turkish: çözünürlük

How it is used

Important when you choose solvents, recrystallize or predict precipitates. Solubility rises or falls with temperature, and compounds are described as soluble, slightly soluble or insoluble. The rule of thumb is 'like dissolves like'.

Example sentences

  1. The solubility of potassium nitrate in water rises sharply with temperature.

  2. Because of its low solubility in water, the product precipitates when you add water.

Common collocations

  • solubility in water
  • low solubility
  • solubility curve
  • solubility product
  • solventThe substance, usually a liquid, that dissolves another substance to form a solution. Water is the most common one; ethanol, acetone and hexane are widely used organic ones.
  • soluteThe substance that gets dissolved in a solvent to make a solution. In salt water, the salt plays this role and the water is the solvent.
  • precipitateAn insoluble solid that forms when two solutions are mixed and separates out of the liquid. As a verb, the word means to form such a solid.
  • recrystallizationA purification method in which a solid is dissolved in a small amount of hot solvent and left to cool slowly, so that pure crystals form and impurities stay in solution.
  • polarDescribes a bond or molecule in which electrons are shared unevenly, so that one end is slightly negative and the other slightly positive. Water is a typical example.

More terms: Solutions and Concentration

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