Chapter III

., and we will here point out that Prof. Sechenoff, in his researches on the absorption of gases by liquids, very fully investigated the phenomena of the solution of carbonic anhydride in solutions of various salts, and arrived at many important results, which showed that, on the one hand, in the solution of carbonic anhydride in solutions of salts on which it is capable of acting chemically (for example, sodium carbonate, borax, ordinary sodium phosphate), there is not only an increase of solubility, but also a distinct deviation from the law of Henry and Dalton; whilst, on the other hand, that solutions of salts which are not acted on by carbonic anhydride (for example, the chlorides, nitrates, and sulphates) absorb less of it, owing to the 'competition' of the salt already dissolved, and follow the law of Henry and Dalton, but at the same time show undoubted signs of a chemical action between the salt, water, and carbonic anhydride. Sulphuric acid (whose co-efficient of absorption is 92 vols. per 100), when diluted with water, absorbs less and less carbonic anhydride, until the hydrate H_{2}SO_{4},H_{2}O (co-eff. of absorption then equals 66 vols.) is formed; then on further addition of water the solubility again rises until a solution of 100 p.c. of water is obtained.

The solution of _solids_, whilst depending only in a small measure on the pressure under which solution takes place (because solids and liquids are almost incompressible), is very clearly dependent on the temperature. In the great majority of cases the solubility of solids in water increases with the temperature; and further, the rapidity of solution increases also. The latter is determined by the rapidity of diffusion of the solution formed into the remainder of the water. The solution of a solid in water, although it is as with gases, a physical passage into a liquid state, is determined, however, by its chemical affinity for water; this is clearly shown from the fact that in solution there occurs a diminution in volume, a change in the boiling point of water, a change in the tension of its vapour, in the freezing point, and in many similar properties. If solution were a physical, and not a chemical, phenomenon, it would naturally be accompanied by an increase and not by a diminution of volume, because generally in melting a solid increases in volume (its density diminishes). _Contraction_ is the usual phenomenon accompanying solution and takes place even in the addition of solutions to water,[39] and in the solution of liquids in water,[40] just as happens in the combination of substances when evidently new substances are produced.[41] The contraction which takes place in solution is, however, very small, a fact which depends on the small compressibility of solids and liquids, and on the insignificance of the compressing force acting in solution.[42] The change of volume which takes place in the solution of solids and liquids, or the alteration in specific gravity[43] corresponding with it, depends on peculiarities of the dissolving substances, and of water, and, in the majority of cases, is not proportional to the quantity of the substance dissolved,[44] showing the existence of a chemical force between the solvent and the substance dissolved which is of the same nature as in all other forms of chemical reaction.[45]

[39] Kremers made this observation in the following simple form:--He took a narrow-necked flask, with a mark on the narrow part (like that on a litre flask which is used for accurately measuring liquids), poured water into it, and then inserted a funnel, having a fine tube which reached to the bottom of the flask. Through this funnel he carefully poured a solution of any salt, and (having removed the funnel) allowed the liquid to attain a definite temperature (in a water bath); he then filled the flask up to the mark with water. In this manner two layers of liquid were obtained, the heavy saline solution below and water above. The flask was then shaken in order to accelerate diffusion, and it was observed that the volume became less if the temperature remained constant. This can be proved by calculation, if the specific gravity of the solutions and water be known. Thus at 15° one c.c. of a 20 p.c. solution of common salt weighs 1·1500 gram, hence 100 grams occupy a volume of 86·96 c.c. As the sp. gr. of water at 15° = 0·99916, therefore 100 grams of water occupy a volume of 100·08 c.c. The sum of the volumes is 187·04 c.c. After mixing, 200 grams of a 10 p.c. solution are obtained. Its specific gravity is 1·0725 (at 15° and referred to water at its maximum density), hence the 200 grams will occupy a volume of 186·48 c.c. The contraction is consequently equal to 0·56 c.c.

[40] The contractions produced in the case of the solution of sulphuric acid in water are shown in the diagram Fig. 17 (page 77). Their maximum is 10·1 c.c. per 100 c.c. of the solution formed. A maximum contraction of 4·15 at 0°, 3·78 at 15°, and 3·50 at 30°, takes place in the solution of 46 parts by weight of anhydrous alcohol in 54 parts of water. This signifies that if, at 0°, 46 parts by weight of alcohol be taken per 54 parts by weight of water, then the sum of their separate volumes will he 104·15, and after mixing their total volume will be 100.

[41] This subject will be considered later in this work, and we shall then see that the contraction produced in reactions of combination (of solids or liquids) is very variable in its amount, and that there are, although rarely, reactions of combination in which contraction does not take place, or when an increase of volume is produced.

[42] The compressibility of solutions of common salt is less, according to Grassi, than that of water. At 18° the compression of water per million volumes = 48 vols. for a pressure of one atmosphere; for a 15 p.c. solution of common salt it is 32, and for a 24 p.c. solution 26 vols. Similar determinations were made by Brown (1887) for saturated solutions of sal ammoniac (38 vols.), alum (46 vols.), common salt (27 vols.), and sodium sulphate at +1°, when the compressibility of water = 47 per million volumes. This investigator also showed that substances which dissolve with an evolution of heat and with an increase in volume (as, for instance, sal ammoniac) are partially separated from their saturated solutions by an increase of pressure (this experiment was particularly conclusive in the case of sal ammoniac), whilst the solubility of substances which dissolve with an absorption of heat or diminution in volume increases, although very slightly, _with an increase of pressure_. Sorby observed the same phenomenon with common salt (1863).

[43] The most trustworthy data relating to the variation of the specific gravity of solutions with a change of their composition and temperature, are collected and discussed in my work cited in footnote 19. The practical (for the amount of a substance in solution is determined by the aid of the specific gravities of solutions, both in works and in laboratory practice) and the theoretical (for specific gravity can be more accurately observed than other properties, and because a variation in specific gravity governs the variation of many other properties) interest of this subject, besides the strict rules and laws to which it is liable, make one wish that this province of data concerning solutions may soon be enriched by further observations of as accurate a nature as possible. Their collection does not present any great difficulty, although requiring much time and attention. Pickering in London and Tourbaba in Kharkoff must be ranked first among those who have pursued problems of this nature during recent years.

[44] Inasmuch as the degree of change exhibited in many properties on the formation of solutions is not large, so, owing to the insufficient accuracy of observations, a proportionality between this change and a change of composition may, in a first rough approximation and especially within narrow limits of change of composition, easily be imagined in cases where it does not even exist. The conclusion of Michel and Kraft is particularly instructive in this respect; in 1854, on the basis of their incomplete researches, they supposed that the increment of the specific gravity of solutions was proportional to the increment of a salt in a given volume of a solution, which is only true for determinations of specific gravity which are exact to the second decimal place--an accuracy insufficient even for technical determinations. Accurate measurements do not confirm a proportionality either in this case or in many others where a ratio has been generally accepted; as, for example, for the rotatory power (with respect to the plane of polarisation) of solutions, and for their capillarity, &c. Nevertheless, such a method is not only still made use of, but even has its advantages when applied to solutions within a limited scope--as, for instance, very weak solutions, and for a first acquaintance with the phenomena accompanying solution, and also as a means for facilitating the application of mathematical analysis to the investigation of the phenomenon of solution. Judging by the results obtained in my researches on the specific gravity of solutions, I think that in many cases it would be nearer the truth to take the change of properties as proportional, not to the amount of a substance dissolved, but to the product of this quantity and the amount of water in which it is dissolved; the more so since many chemical relations vary in proportion to the reacting masses, and a similar ratio has been established for many phenomena of attraction studied by mechanics. This product is easily arrived at when the quantity of water in the solutions to be compared is constant, as is shown in investigating the fall of temperature in the formation of ice (_see_ footnote 49, p. 91).

[45] All the different forms of chemical reaction may be said to take place in the process of solution. (1) _Combinations_ between the solvent and the substance dissolved, which are more or less stable (more or less dissociated). This form of reaction is the most probable, and is that most often observed. (2) Reactions of _substitution_ or of _double decomposition_ between the molecules. Thus it may be supposed that in the solution of sal ammoniac, NH_{4}Cl, the action of water produces ammonia, NH_{4}HO, and hydrochloric acid, HCl, which are dissolved in the water and simultaneously attract each other. As these solutions and many others do indeed exhibit signs, which are sometimes indisputable, of similar double decompositions (thus solutions of sal-ammoniac yield a certain amount of ammonia), it is probable that this form of reaction is more often met with than is generally thought. (3) Reactions of _isomerism_ or _replacement_ are also probably met with in solution, all the more as here molecules of different kinds come into intimate contact, and it is very likely that the configuration of the atoms in the molecules under these influences is somewhat different from what it was in its original and isolated state. One is led to this supposition especially from observations made on solutions of substances which rotate the plane of polarisation (and observations of this kind are very sensitive with respect to the atomic structure of molecules), because they show, for example (according to Schneider, 1881), that strong solutions of malic acid rotate the plane of polarisation to the right, whilst its ammonium salts in all degrees of concentration rotate the plane of polarisation to the left. (4) Reactions of _decomposition_ under the influences of solution are not only rational in themselves, but have in recent years been recognised by Arrhenius, Ostwald, and others, particularly on the basis of electrolytic determinations. If a portion of the molecules of a solution occur in a condition of decomposition, the other portion may occur in a yet more complex state of combination, just as the velocity of the motion of different gaseous molecules may be far from being the same (_see_ Note 34, p. 81).

It is, therefore, very probable that the reactions taking place in solution vary both quantitatively and qualitatively with the mass of water in the solution, and the great difficulty in arriving at a definite conclusion as to the nature of the chemical relations which take place in the process of solution will be understood, and if besides this the existence of a physical process, like the sliding between and interpenetration of two homogeneous liquids, be also recognised in solution, then the complexity of the problem as to the actual nature of solutions, which is now to the fore, appears in its true light. However, the efforts which are now being applied to the solution of this problem are so numerous and of such varied aspect that they will afford future investigators a vast mass of material towards the construction of a complete theory of solution.

For my part, I am of opinion that the study of the physical properties of solutions (and especially of weak ones) which now obtains, cannot give any fundamental and complete solution of the problem whatever (although it should add much to both the provinces of physics and chemistry), but that, parallel with it, should be undertaken the study of the influence of temperature, and especially of low temperatures, the application to solutions of the mechanical theory of heat, and the comparative study of the chemical properties of solutions. The beginning of all this is already established, but it is impossible to consider in so short an exposition of chemistry the further efforts of this kind which have been made up to the present date.

The feeble development of the chemical affinities acting in solutions of solids becomes evident from those multifarious methods by which _their solutions are decomposed_, whether they be saturated or not. On heating (absorption of heat), on cooling, and by internal forces alone, aqueous solutions in many cases separate into their components or their definite compounds with water. The water contained in solutions is removed from them as vapour, or, by freezing, in the form of ice,[46] but the _tension of the vapour of water_[47] held in solution is less than that of water in a free state, and the _temperature of the formation of ice_ from solutions is lower than 0°. Further, both the diminution of vapour tension and the lowering of the freezing point proceed, in dilute solutions, almost in proportion to the amount of a substance dissolved.[48] Thus, if per 100 grams of water there be in solution 1, 5, 10 grams of common salt (NaCl), then at 100° the vapour tension of the solutions decreases by 4, 21, 43 mm. of the barometric column, against 760 mm., or the vapour tension of water, whilst the freezing points are -0·58°, -2·91°, and -6·10° respectively. The above figures[49] are almost proportional to the amounts of salt in solution (1, 5, and 10 per 100 of water). Furthermore, it has been shown by experiment that the ratio of the diminution of vapour tension to the vapour tension of water at different temperatures in a given solution is an almost constant quantity,[50] and that for every (dilute) solution the ratio between the diminution of vapour tension and of the freezing point is also a tolerably constant quantity.[51]

[46] If solutions are regarded as being in a state of dissociation (_see_ footnote 19, p. 64) it would be expected that they would contain free molecules of water, which form one of the products of the decomposition of those definite compounds whose formation is the cause of solution. In separating as ice or vapour, water makes, with a solution, a heterogeneous system (made up of substances in different physical states) similar, for instance, to the formation of a precipitate or volatile substance in reactions of double decomposition.

[47] If the substance dissolved is non-volatile (like salt or sugar), or only slightly volatile, then the whole of the tension of the vapour given off is due to the water, but if a solution of a volatile substance--for instance, a gas or a volatile liquid--evaporates, then only a portion of the pressure belongs to the water, and the whole pressure observed consists of the sum of the pressures of the vapours of the water and of the substance dissolved. The majority of researches bear on the first case, which will be spoken of presently, and the observations of D. P. Konovaloff (1881) refer to the second case. He showed that in the case of two volatile liquids, mutually soluble in each other, forming two layers of saturated solutions (for example, ether and water, Note 20, p. 67), both solutions have an equal vapour tension (in the case in point the tension of both is equal to 431 mm. of mercury at 19·8°). Further, he found that for solutions which are formed in all proportions, the tension is either greater (solutions of alcohol and water) or less (solutions of formic acid) than that which answers to the rectilinear change (proportional to the composition) from the tension of water to the tension of the substance dissolved; thus, the tension, for example, of a 70 p.c. solution of formic acid is less, at all temperatures, than the tension of water and of formic acid itself. In this case the tension of a solution is never equal to the sum of the tensions of the dissolving liquids, as Regnault already showed when he distinguished this case from that in which a mixture of liquids, which are insoluble in each other, evaporates. From this it is evident that a mutual action occurs in solution, which diminishes the vapour tensions proper to the individual substances, as would be expected on the supposition of the formation of compounds in solutions, because the elasticity then always diminishes.

[48] This amount is usually expressed by the weight of the substance dissolved per 100 parts by weight of water. Probably it would be better to express it by the quantity of the substance in a definite volume of the solution--for instance, in a litre--or by the ratios of the number of molecules of water and of the substance dissolved.

[49] The variation of the vapour tension of solutions has been investigated by many. The best known researches are those of Wüllner in Germany (1858-1860) and of Tamman in Russia (1887). The researches on the temperature of the formation of ice from various solutions are also very numerous; Blagden (1788), Rüdorff (1861), and De Coppet (1871) established the beginning, but this kind of investigation takes its chief interest from the work of Raoult, begun in 1882 on aqueous solutions, and afterwards continued for solutions in various other easily frozen liquids--for instance, benzene, C_{6}H_{6} (melts at 4·96°), acetic acid, C_{2}H_{4}O_{2} (16·75°), and others. An especially important interest is attached to these cryoscopic investigations of Raoult in France on the depression of the freezing point, because he took solutions of many well-known carbon-compounds and discovered a simple relation between the molecular weight of the substances and the temperature of crystallisation of the solvent, which enabled this kind of research to be applied to the investigation of the nature of substances. We shall meet with the application of this method later on (_see also_