Practicing Success
At room temperature, the mole fraction of a solute is 0.25 and the vapour pressure of a solvent is 0.80 atm. The lowering of vapour pressure is: |
0.60 0.75 0.20 0.80 |
0.20 |
The correct answer is option 3. 0.20. The lowering of vapor pressure (\(\Delta P\)) is given by the difference between the vapor pressure of the pure solvent (\(P^{\circ}\)) and the vapor pressure of the solution (\(P\)): \(\Delta P = P^{\circ} - P\) The mole fraction of the solute is 0.25 and the vapor pressure of the solvent is 0.80 atm. We can calculate the vapor pressure of the solution using Raoult's law: \(P = x_{\text{solute}} \cdot P^{\circ}\) where \(x_{\text{solute}}\) is the mole fraction of the solute. Since the mole fraction of the solute is 0.25, the mole fraction of the solvent is \(1 - 0.25 = 0.75\). \(P = 0.75 \cdot P^{\circ} = 0.75 \times 0.80 \, \text{atm} = 0.60 \, \text{atm}\) Now we can calculate the lowering of vapor pressure: \(\Delta P = P^{\circ} - P = 0.80 \, \text{atm} - 0.60 \, \text{atm} = 0.20 \, \text{atm}\) Therefore, the lowering of vapor pressure is 0.20 atm, which corresponds to option (3). |