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Solutions & Colligative Properties

Ideal Solution

A solution in which the interactions between unlike molecules are identical to those between like molecules, so Raoult's law holds at all compositions.

Formula / equation ΔH_mix = 0, ΔV_mix = 0
Unit Dimensionless

In depth

Mixing produces neither heat nor volume change, and the only driving force is the entropy of mixing. Ideal behaviour requires the components to be structurally and energetically very similar, so it is essentially confined to mixtures of close homologues or isotopic variants.

Examples in the real world

Benzene with toluene, hexane with heptane, and bromoethane with iodoethane.