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Logan is cooking, and he wants to increase the boiling point of the water. Which solute would not be a good choice as it would not increase the boiling point as much as the others?

A. Salt, NaCl

B. Magnesium Sulfate, MgSO4

C. Potassium Sulfate, K2SO4

D. Sucrose, C12H22O11

User CPR
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Sugar would not increase the boiling point of the water as much as the others.To show this, we recall the equation for boiling point elevation ∆t:
∆t = i Kb m

The difference in these four solutions will be in the product of the van't Hoff Factor i and molality m: i * m.

If we assume that we have 0.1m of each solute, the products i*m for these solutions are:

Solution Identity of particles i i * m
0.1 m NaCl Na+, Cl- 2 2 * 0.1 = 0.2
0.1 m MgSO4 Mg^2+, SO4^2- 2 2 * 0.1 = 0.2
0.1 m K2SO4 two K+, SO4^2- 3 3 * 0.1 = 0.3
0.1 m C12H22O11 covalently bonded molecules 1 1 * 0.1 = 0.1

Therefore, having the lowest i * m, sucrose will have the lowest boiling point elevation.
User Dave Briand
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