Dissolution and the Energetics of Dissolution

Dissolution is the process where two substances or more is homogeneous at the molecular level. The
distribution of particles must be equal. Dissolution is caused mainly by intermolecular forces of
attraction between the solute and the solvent (in a two-component system). The rule is like dissolves
like, which means for a two-component system, their intermolecular forces of attraction must be alike in
order to spontaneously form a solution (ΔG<0; note that a negative value for ΔG denotes spontaneity of
a process).

To give an example, ethanol (EtOH) and water (H2O) are both capable of hydrogen bonding, have dipole-
dipole forces of attraction in addition to Van der Waals forces of attraction. This means at the molecular
level, mixing both components will form a solution.

In the experiment, KMnO4 was dissolved in water. KMnO4 dissolves into K+ and MnO4- ions inside water.
This process is called dissociation.

For a solvent to be able to dissolve a solute, the solvent must form strong enough intermolecular bonds
with the solute to be able to separate the solute molecules from each other. Specifically, the
intermolecular bonds between solute and solvent must be stronger than the intermolecular bonds
between both solute particles and solvent particles to be able to uniformly distribute the solute particles
among the solvent molecules, thus creating a solution.

To be able to spontaneously form intermolecular bonds between solvent-solute molecules, solute-

solute and solvent-solvent interactions must first be broken. Breaking solute-solute and solvent-solvent
interactions count as endothermic processes (ΔH1>0 and ΔH2>0), this means there must be an input of
energy in order to break these interactions. The coming together of solute-solvent molecules in
spontaneous processes is exothermic, which means there is a release of energy in the form of heat
(ΔH3<0). Note that these enthalpy values are only for spontaneous processes. This gives a ΔHsoln = ΔH1 +
ΔH2 + ΔH3 < 0, given that the enthalpy for the solute-solvent interactions is much more negative than the
two attraction-breaking processes.
Source: Brown, et. al.

For unspontaneous processes, ΔHsoln > 0. This means that the solute-solvent interactions aren’t
exothermic enough or aren’t strong enough to break solute-solute or solvent-solvent interactions. Here,
we have to apply energy to be able to form a solution.
Source: Brown, et. al.

Rate of Dissolution

The rate of dissolution is affected mainly by three things: surface area, temperature, and agitation.
Dissolution is a surface phenomenon since it depends on the rate at which molecules of the solvent
collide with the molecules at the surface of the solute. The larger the surface area exposed in the solute,
the faster the solvation process is. Thus, the smaller the solute chunks are, the faster the dissolution
process occurs.

The addition of heat into a solvation process increases the negative enthalpy of the solution. This makes
spontaneous dissolution processes occur faster and increases chances of dissolution for non-
spontaneous processes. The application of heat increases the kinetic energy of the molecules inside the
solution which, in turn, increases rate of collision between solute-solvent molecules.

Agitation of the solution also increases rate of dissolution by increasing the kinetic energy of the
molecules and increasing the rate of collision between solute-solvent molecules in the container. It has a
similar effect to heating the solution.
References:

Brown, T. L., Bursten, B. E., Hill, J. C., & LeMay, H. E. (2012). Chemistry: the central science. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Ball, D. W., Hill, J. W., & Scott, R. J. (2013). The basics of general, organic, and biological chemistry.
Washington, DC: Flat World Knowledge.

Bewick, S., Parsons, R., Forsythe, T., Robinson, S., Dupon, J. (2018). Introduction to Chemistry [PDF]. Palo
Alto, CA: CK-12 Foundation. Accessed: August 2019.