Question #a18e4

1 Answer
Feb 10, 2015

The dilution factor will be 500, or 1:500.

Basically, you start with the volume of steel-acid solution you have in the "100-mL" flask. For a solution, the dilution factor is defined as the ratio between the final volume - after the dilution - and the initial volume - before the dilution

"DF" = V_"final"/V_"initial"

Your initial volume before the dilution will be "1 mL", the aliquot you take from the solution you've prepared. After you dilute the aliquot, the final volume will be "500 mL". As a result,

"DF" = V_"final"/V_"initial" = "500 mL"/"1 mL" = "1:500"

This is the equivalent of adding "499 mL" to your "1-mL" aliquot for a dilution factor of 1/500.

Read more about dilution factors here:

http://socratic.org/questions/how-do-you-calculate-dilution-factor?source=search

http://socratic.org/questions/how-do-you-do-serial-dilution-calculations?source=search