Soluble impurities lower the freezing point (Tf) of a solvent more than insoluble impurities because soluble impurities disrupt the attractive forces between solvent molecules more. When soluble impurities are added, they disturb the orderly arrangement of solvent molecules, decreasing the attractive forces and allowing the solvent to melt at a lower temperature. Insoluble impurities interact less with solvent molecules so they cause only a slight decrease in freezing point.
Why do soluble impurities lower Tf of a solvent- Will insoluble impuri.docx
1. Why do soluble impurities lower Tf of a solvent? Will insoluble impurities lower Tf of a
solvent?
Solution
T f stands for depression in freezing point. That is a decrease in the freezing point. A pure
compound will have a unique freezing point at standard conditions. there will be some forces of
attractions between the molecules of compound that held it together.(For example, crystalline
solids will have well arreanged repearting unit cells and they are held together by some attraction
forces. When some impurity is added to the crystalline solid, the arrangement of unit cells will be
disturbed and hence the forces decreases. So, less energy will be sufficient to melt the solid).
similarly, for any substance a large decrease inT f value is observed as the soluble impurity
increases.
whereas, when insoluble impurities are present, they interact with the componud very less and
hence only a slight decrease is observed in T f value.