Numerical answer
of benzoic acid (molar mass ) is dissolved in of benzene (). The observed depression in freezing point is . Assuming the acid does not ionise in benzene but only associates to dimers, calculate the percentage of benzoic acid molecules that exist as dimers. Give the answer correct to two decimal places.
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Answer: 82.81
Molality of the formal solute . From , . For association , starting from mole of monomer units, if a fraction is dimerised the total number of moles of particles is , so . Therefore , i.e. of the molecules exist in dimer form. The result lies between and , which confirms that the assumption of dimerisation alone is consistent. Check on the data: with the calculated for no association would be , and the observed is lower, as expected for dimerisation, which reduces the number of particles.
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