--%>

What is depression in freezing point?

Freezing point of a substance is the temperature at which solid and liquid phases of the substance coexist. It is defined as the temperature at which its solid and liquid phases have the same vapour pressure.

The freezing point of a pure liquid is preset. Now, if a non-volatile solute is dissolved in the pure liquid to constitute a solution, there occurs a lowering in the freezing point. The freezing point of solution refers to the temperature at which the vapour pressure of the solvent in two phases, i.e. liquid solution and solid solvent is the same. Since the vapour pressure of the solvent at a lower temperature.

Evidently the freezing point of the pure solvent is the temperature corresponding to the point B (T0 K) and that of the solution is the temperature corresponding to the point A'(T1 K). Clearly, (T0 - T1) or ΔTƒ is the freezing point depression. Since its magnitude is determined by that of lowering of vapour pressure, the freezing point depression depends upon the molal concentration of the solute and does not depend upon the nature of solid. It is, thus, a colligative property. The general relation between these two quantities for a solution of non-electrolyte is usually expressed in term of molality of the solution

ΔTƒ  Δp and Δp xB

ΔTƒ = kxB =415_freezing point.png 


For dilute solution, 272_freezing point1.png   and hence,1964_freezing point2.png.


ΔTƒ = k 1278_freezing point3.png  = k582_elevation in boiling point4.pngMA


If WA is the mass of solvent in kg, then   is equal to molality (m) of the solution

ΔTƒ = kMAm     (? kMA = Kƒ)

ΔTƒ =Kƒm, where Kƒ is called Freezing point depression constant or molal depression constant or cryoscopic constant.

As is clear from the above, depression in freezing point depends upon relative number of moles of solute and solvent but does not depend upon nature of solute, so it is a colligative property.

   Related Questions in Chemistry

  • Q : Vapour pressure of water Give me answer

    Give me answer of this question. 5cm3 of acetone is added to 100cm3 of water, the vapour pressure of water over the solution: (a) It will be equal to the vapour pressure of pure water (b) It will be less than the vapour pressure of pure water

  • Q : Explain Second Order Rate Equations.

    Integration of the second order rate equations also produces convenient expressions for dealing with concentration time results.A reaction is classified as second order if the rate of the reaction is proportional to the square of the concentration of one o

  • Q : Number of mlecules in methane Can

    Can someone please help me in getting through this problem. The total number of molecules in 16 gm of methane will be: (i) 3.1 x 1023 (ii) 6.02 x 1023 (iii) 16/6.02 x 1023 (iv) 16/3.0 x 1023

  • Q : Procedure to judge that organic

    Describe briefly the procedure to judge that the given organic compound is pure or not?

  • Q : Help 1) Chromium(III) hydroxide is

    1) Chromium(III) hydroxide is highly insoluble in distilled water but dissolves readily in either acidic or basic solution. Briefly explain why the compound can dissolve in acidic or in basic but not in neutral solution. Write appropriate equations to support your answer. 2) Explain how dissolving t

  • Q : Basicity order order of decreasing

    order of decreasing basicity of urea and its substituents

  • Q : Problem on reversible and irreversible

    The second law states that  dS ≥ (dQ/T), where dS = dQ/T for a reversible process and dS > dQ/T for an irreversible process.   a. Show that since dW12 = -dW21 (dWreverse = -dWforward) for a r

  • Q : Diffusion Molecular View When the

    When the diffusion process is treated as the movement of particles through a solvent the diffusion coefficient can be related to the effective size of diffusing particles and the viscosity of the medium.To see how the experimental coefficients can be treat

  • Q : How to calculate solutions molar

    The contribution of an electrolyte, or an ion electrolyte, is reported as the molar of a conductance. The definition of the molar conductance is based on the following conductivity cell in which the electrodes are 1 m apart and of sufficient area that th

  • Q : Composition of the vapour Choose the

    Choose the right answer from following. An ideal solution was obtained by mixing methanol and ethanol. If the partial vapour pressure of methanol and ethanol are 2.619KPa and 4.556KPa respectively, the composition of the vapour (in terms of mole fraction) will be: (