The key difference between dilution and concentration is that dilution refers to the addition of more solvent whereas concentration refers to the removal of the solvent.
The concepts of dilution and concentration are very significant in the study of solutions in chemistry. Consequently, the amount of solute in a solvent decides the properties of a solution and this amount remaining the same; we can make a solution “diluted” or “concentrated” by adding solvent and removing some of the solvent from the solution. Thus, in chemical analysis, we need to change the concentration of a solution often in different applications.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Dilution
3. What is Concentration
4. Side by Side Comparison – Dilution vs Concentration in Tabular Form
5. Summary
What is Dilution?
Dilution is the process of decreasing the concentration of solutes in a solution by adding more solvent. Thereby, we can decrease the amount of solutes present in a unit volume of the solution. If we refer to “to dilute”, it means, “to add more solvent without adding solutes”. However, after the addition of the solvent, we should thoroughly mix the solution in order to obtain a homogeneous solution.
Figure 01: Process of Dilution
According to the following equation, we can determine the final concentration of the solution after the dilution process.
C1V1 = C2V2
Where, C1 is initial concentration, V1 is the initial volume of the solution, C2 is the concentration after dilution and V2 is the final concentration of the solution. For instance, if we add 5 mL of water to 95 mL of an aqueous solution of NaCl (1 mol/L), then the dilution gives a 0.95 mol/L solution. Hence the concentration is reduced.
What is Concentration?
Concentration is the process of increasing the concentration of solutes in a solution. In other words, it is either decreasing the amount of solvent or increasing the amount of solutes. Therefore, it is the process of increasing the amount of solutes present in a unit volume of the solution.
Figure 02: Process of Concentration darkens the Solution`
A concentrated solution contains a high amount of solutes compared to a diluted solution. We can determine the concentration of the solution after concentrating it using the same equation given above (under the subtopic dilution).
What is the Difference Between Dilution and Concentration?
Dilution is the process of decreasing the concentration of solutes in a solution by adding more solvent whereas concentration is the process of increasing the concentration of solutes in a solution. Thus, the key difference between dilution and concentration is that dilution refers to the addition of more solvent whereas concentration refers to the removal of the solvent. We can dilute a solution by either adding more solvent or by removing the solutes while the process of concentration involves either the addition of more solutes or the removal of the solvent.
The below infographic provides further details on the difference between dilution and concentration.
Summary – Dilution vs Concentration
Dilution and concentration are very important in chemistry to prepare a solution with the desired concentration. Moreover, these processes of dilution and concentration are very important in analytical chemistry. The key difference between dilution and concentration is that dilution refers to the addition of more solvent whereas concentration refers to the removal of the solvent.
Reference:
1. “Dilution (Equation).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Sept. 2018. Available here
Image Courtesy:
1.”Dilution”By Theislikerice – Own work, (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2.”Dilution-concentration simple example”By FirstPrinciples (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia