Answer to Question #329867 in General Chemistry for Tesha

Question

Identify what colligative property is applied or observed in the following. Explain

your answer.

1. Salt is mixed with ice in ice cream making.

2. Salt and sugar are used in food preservation.

3. Coolant is added to car radiators.

4. Pressure cooker.

5. Pruned or wrinkled fingers.

Answer 1

1. The freezing point depression of a solution containing a dissolved substance, such as salt in water (ice), is a colligative property.

2. Salt and sugar draws water out of cells via the process of osmosis. Essentially, water moves across a cell membrane to try to equalize the salinity or concentration of salt on both sides of the membrane. If you add enough salt, too much water will be removed from a cell for it to stay alive or reproduce.

3. The colligative properties of antifreeze fluids dictate the freeze point depression of the antifreeze solution. For ethylene glycol solutions, the maximum freezing point is achieved by using a 68% aqueous solution; this concentration is known as the eutectic concentration.

4. A pressure cooker operates on the principle that an increase in the pressure on the surface of a liquid will increase the boiling point of the liquid. More pressure on the surface decreases the vapor pressure because more liquid molecules will stay in the liquid phase and not escape to the vapor phase.

5. Osmotic pressure is the amount of force that causes osmosis to occur. An example of this is a person's fingers pruning in a bath or shower.