--%>

What is depression in freezing point?

Freezing point of a substance is the temperature at which solid and liquid phases of the substance coexist. It is defined as the temperature at which its solid and liquid phases have the same vapour pressure.

The freezing point of a pure liquid is preset. Now, if a non-volatile solute is dissolved in the pure liquid to constitute a solution, there occurs a lowering in the freezing point. The freezing point of solution refers to the temperature at which the vapour pressure of the solvent in two phases, i.e. liquid solution and solid solvent is the same. Since the vapour pressure of the solvent at a lower temperature.

Evidently the freezing point of the pure solvent is the temperature corresponding to the point B (T0 K) and that of the solution is the temperature corresponding to the point A'(T1 K). Clearly, (T0 - T1) or ΔTƒ is the freezing point depression. Since its magnitude is determined by that of lowering of vapour pressure, the freezing point depression depends upon the molal concentration of the solute and does not depend upon the nature of solid. It is, thus, a colligative property. The general relation between these two quantities for a solution of non-electrolyte is usually expressed in term of molality of the solution

ΔTƒ  Δp and Δp xB

ΔTƒ = kxB =415_freezing point.png 


For dilute solution, 272_freezing point1.png   and hence,1964_freezing point2.png.


ΔTƒ = k 1278_freezing point3.png  = k582_elevation in boiling point4.pngMA


If WA is the mass of solvent in kg, then   is equal to molality (m) of the solution

ΔTƒ = kMAm     (? kMA = Kƒ)

ΔTƒ =Kƒm, where Kƒ is called Freezing point depression constant or molal depression constant or cryoscopic constant.

As is clear from the above, depression in freezing point depends upon relative number of moles of solute and solvent but does not depend upon nature of solute, so it is a colligative property.

   Related Questions in Chemistry

  • Q : How to calculate solutions molar

    The contribution of an electrolyte, or an ion electrolyte, is reported as the molar of a conductance. The definition of the molar conductance is based on the following conductivity cell in which the electrodes are 1 m apart and of sufficient area that th

  • Q : Explain the catalyst definition and

    Catalyst is a substance which accelerates the rate of a chemical reaction without undergoing any change in its chemical composition or mass during the reaction. The phenomenon of increasing the rate of a reaction with the help of a catalyst is known as catalysis.

  • Q : Illustrations of the reversible reaction

    What are the various illustrations of the reversible reaction? Explain briefly?

  • Q : Molecular Properties Symmetry Molecular

    Molecular orbitals and molecular motions belong to certain symmetry species of the point group of the molecule.Examples of the special ways in which vectors or functions can be affected by symmetry operations are illustrated here. All wave functions soluti

  • Q : Pressure and power for adiabatic

    a) Air flowing at 1 m3/s enters an adiabatic compressor at 20°C and 1 bar. It exits at 200°C. The isentropic efficiency of the compressor is 80%. Calculate the exit pressure and the power required. b) Steam enter

  • Q : Microwave Adsorption The absorption of

    The absorption of microwave radiation increases the rotational energy of molecules and gives information about the moment of inertia of the molecules.Now we can begin the study of the spectroscopy that explores the different ways in which the energy of the

  • Q : Molecular Diameters The excluded volume

    The excluded volume b, introduced by vander Wall's as an empirical correction term, can be related to the size gas molecules. To do so, we assume the excluded volume is the result of the pairwise coming together of molecules. This assumption is justified when b values

  • Q : Theory of three dimensional motion

    Partition function; that the translational energy of 1 mol of molecules is 3/2 RT will come as no surprise. But the calculation of this result further illustrates the use of quantized states and the partition function to obtain macroscopic properties. The partition fu

  • Q : Some basic concepts of chemistry an

    an atom of an element is 10.1 times heavier than the mass of a carbon atom.What is its mass in amu?

  • Q : Effect on vapour pressure of dissolving

    Give me answer of this question. When a substance is dissolved in a solvent the vapour pressure of the solvent is decreased. This results in: (a) An increase in the b.p. of the solution (b) A decrease in the b.p. of the solvent (c) The solution having a higher fr