Solubility Table (Table of Solubilities)

Water is a commonly used solvent, so it is very useful to construct a table of solubilities

based on the mass of a solute that will dissolve in a given volume of water.

Water is the solvent.

The solute is the substance being dissolved in the water.

Solubility tables (tables of solubility) usually tabulate the maximum mass in grams of
the solute that can be dissolved in 100 mLof water.

This data in the table is relevant only to the temperature given for the table. Commonly,
solubility data is given for 25C.

At 25C and 101.3 kPa (1 atm) the density of water is 1.00 g mL-1

That is, 1 g of water has a volume of 1 mL at 25C

Therefore, 100 g of water will have a volume of 100 1 mL = 100 mL at 25C

So at 25C and 101.3 kPa, the solubility of a solute in water given as mass in grams per
100 g water is the same as the solubility of the solute given as mass in grams per 100
mL of water.

That is, at 25C: solubility in g/100 g water = solubility in g/100 mL water

Example: the solubility of sodium chloride (NaCl) in water at 25C is 36 g/100 mL , or,
36 g/100 g

A solute is usually considered to be soluble in water if more than 1.0 g can be dissolved
in 100 mL of water.

A solute is usually considered to be insoluble in water if less than 0.1 g can be dissolved
in 100 mL of water.

It is important to note that "insoluble" does NOT necessarily mean that the solute cannot
be dissolved, it only means that an extremely small amount of the solute can be
dissolved in the solvent.
If the solubility of a substance is 0 g/100 mL, then, and only then, can we say that none
of the solute dissolves in the solvent.

A solute is usually considered to be slightly soluble, or sparingly soluble, in water if

between 0.1 and 1.0 g can be dissolved in 100 mL of water

The solubility table below gives the maximum mass of solute in grams that can be
dissolved in 100 mL of water at 25C.

Solubilities of some common substances in water at 25oC

Solute Solute Solubility Description

Name Formula g/100 mL water of Solubility
 silver nitrate AgNO3(s) 245

sodium hydroxide NaOH(s) 80

sucrose C12H22O11(s) 70

lead(II) nitrate Pb(NO3)2(s) 60

ammonia NH3(g) 48

glucose C6H12O6(l) 45
soluble
ammonium chloride NH4Cl(s) 39

sodium chloride NaCl(s) 36

potassium chloride KCl(s) 35

magnesium sulfate MgSO4(s) 18

copper(II) sulfate CuSO4(s) 14

bromine Br2(g) 3.5

chlorine Cl2(g) 0.6

carbon dioxide CO2(g) 0.15 slightly soluble

calcium hydroxide Ca(OH)2(s) 0.12

iodine I2(s) 0.03

barium sulfate BaSO4(s) 0.001

insoluble
silver chloride AgCl(s) 0.0002

sulfur S(s) 0

Sodium chloride, NaCl, is a soluble salt. From the solubility table above we see that the
solubility of sodium chloride is 36 g/100 mL water at 25C.

1 g of NaCl(s) will dissolve in 100 mL of water at 25C.

This solution will be an unsaturated aqueous solution of sodium chloride.
25 g of NaCl(s) will dissolve in 100 mL of water at 25C.
This solution will be an unsaturated aqueous solution of sodium chloride.
36g of NaCl(s) will dissolve in 100 mL of water at 25C.
This solution will be a saturated aqueous solution of sodium chloride, but there
will be no visible solid NaCl in the vessel.
If 40 g of NaCl(s) is added to 100 mL of water at 25C, only 36g of NaCl (s) will
dissolve, 4 g of the NaCl(s) will not dissolve.
This solution will be a saturated aqueous solution of sodium chloride and there
will be visible solid NaCl in the vessel.
We can say that this excess NaCl(s) precipitates out of the solution.

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Key Concepts

Weight/Volume Percentage Concentration is a measurement of the concentration

of a soluton.
weight/volume percentage concentration is usually abbreviated as w/v (%)
To calculate w/v % concentration:

mass of solute (g)

w/v (%) = 100
volume of solution (mL)

Common units for w/v% concentration are g/100mL (%)

Solubilities are sometimes given in units of grams of solute per 100

mL of water, that is, as a weight/volume percentage concentration.

weight/volume is a useful concentration measure when dispensing reagents.

Note that weight/volume is also referred to as mass/volume.

mass/volume can be abbreviated as m/v

mass/volume percentage concentration is abbeviated as m/v %

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Weight/Volume Percentage Concentration Calculations

Question 1. What is the weight/volume percentage concentration of 250 mL of aqueous

sodium chloride solution containing 5 g NaCl?

1. Write the equation used to calculate the weight/volume (%) :

weight/volume (%) = (mass solute volume of solution) 100

2. Identify the solute:

solute = sodium chloride = NaCl

3. Extract the data from the question:

mass solute (NaCl) = 5 g

volume of solution = 250 mL

4. Substitute the values into the equation and solve:

w/v (%) = (5g 250 mL) 100 = 2g/100mL (%)

Question 2. 10.00 g BaCl2 is dissolved in 90.00 g of water.

The density of the solution is 1.09 g/mL.
Calculate the weight/volume percentage concentration of the solution.

1. Identify the solute and solvent:

 solute = barium chloride = BaCl2
solvent = water = H2O(l)

2. Calculate the volume of the solution:

density = mass(solution) volume(solution)

mass(solution) = mass(solute) + mass(solvent)

mass(solution) = 10 g BaCl 2 + 90 g water = 100.00 g

volume solution = mass density

volume solution = 100 g 1.09 g/mL = 91.74 mL

3. Calculate w/v (%)

w/v (%) = (mass solute volume solution) 100

mass solute (BaCl2) = 10.00 g
volume solution = 91.74 mL

Substitute the values into the equation and solve:

w/v (%) = (10.00 g 91.74 mL) 100
w/v (%) = 10.90 g/100 mL (%)

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Conversion from Other Units to w/v %

Question 1. 2.0 L of an aqueous solution of potassium chloride contains 45.0 g of KCl.

What is the weight/volume percentage concentration of this solution in g/100mL?

1. Convert the units (mass in grams, volume in mL):

mass KCl = 45.0g

volume of solution = 2.0 L = 2.0 L 103 mL/L = 2000 mL

2. Calculate w/v (%)

w/v (%) = [mass solute (g) volume solution (mL)] 100

Substitute in the values and solve:

w/v (%) = [45.0 2000 mL] 100 = 2.25 g/100mL (%)

Question 2. 15 mL of an aqueous solution of sucrose contains 750 mg sucrose.

What is the weight/volume percentage concentration of this solution in g/100 mL?

1. Convert the units (mass to grams, volume to mL)

mass solute (sucrose) = 750 mg = 750 mg 1000 mg/g = 0.750 g

volume solution = 15 mL

2. Calculate w/v (%)

w/v (%) = [mass solute (g) volume solution (mL)] 100

 Substitute the values into the equation and solve:
w/v (%) = (0.750 g 15 mL) 100 = 5.0 g/100mL (%)

Question 3. 186.4 L of aqueous sodium hydroxide solution contains 1.15 kg NaOH.

What is the weight/volume percentage concentration of this solution in g/100 mL?

1. Convert the units (mass to grams, volume to mL)

mass solute (NaOH) = 1.15 kg = 1.15 kg 1000 g/kg = 1,150 g

volume solution = 186.4 L = 186.4 L 1000 mL/L = 186,400 mL

2. Calculate w/v (%)

w/v (%) = [mass solute (g) volume solution (mL)] 100

Substitute in the values and solve the equation:

w/v (%) = (1,150 g 186,400 mL) 100
w/v (%) = 0.62 g/100mL (%)

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Reagent Volume-Mass Calculations

Question 1. A student must add 1.22 g of sodium chloride to a reaction vessel.

The student is provided with an 11.78 g/100 mL (%) aqueous sodium chloride solution.
What volume of this solution must be added to the reaction vessel?

1. Extract the data from the question:

mass of solute required = mass(NaCl) = 1.22 g

concentration of NaCl (aq) provided = w/v (%) = 11.78 g/100 mL
volume of solution needed = ? mL

2. Re-arrange the w/v % equation to find the volume of solution:

mass of solute (g)

w/v (%) = 100
volume of solution (mL)

Multiply both sides of the equation by volume of solution (mL)

w/v (%) volume of solution (mL) = mass of solute (g) 100

Divide both sides of equation by w/v (%):

mass of solute (g)

volume of solution (mL) = 100
w/v (%)

3. Subsitutue the values into the equation and solve for volume of solution:
 mass of solute (g)
volume of solution (mL) = 100
w/v (%)
1.22 g
= 100
11.78 g/100 mL
= 10.36 mL

Question 2. What is the mass in grams of potassium iodide in 14.86 mL of a 32.44

g/100 mL aqueous potassium iodide solution?

1. Extract the data from the question:

mass solute = mass(KI) = ? g

volume(KI(aq)) = 14.86 mL
concentration of KI(aq) = 32.44 g/100 mL

2. Re-arrange the w/v (%) equation to find mass(solute):

w/v(%) = mass solute (g) volume solution (mL) 100

Divide both sides of the equation by 100

w/v(%) 100 = mass solute (g) volume solution (mL)

Multiple both sides of the equation by volume solution (mL)

mass solute (g) = (w/v (%) 100) volume solution (mL)

3. Substitutue the values into the equation and solve:

mass solute (g) = (w/v (%) 100) volume solution (mL)

mass(KI) = (32.44 100) 14.86 = 4.82 g

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