I'm in high school and I'm learning about freezing point depression and boiling point elevation. I've been given this chemistry problem:

Acetic acid has a boiling point elevation constant of 2.93 and a normal boiling point of 118.1 Celsius. What would be the boiling point of a solution made by dissolving 100.0 grams of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in 400.0 grams of acetic acid?

This requires me to use the equation for boiling point elevation, that is: ΔTb = Kb · bsolute · i, or change in temperature = the ebullioscopic constant * the molality of the solution * the number of ions the solute splits into.

My question is how does one determine i for a given solute in a case like this? Thanks for any help you can give!

  • $\begingroup$ Never mind. I figured it out. How do I delete this? $\endgroup$ – Patrick Jul 3 '17 at 22:08
  • 5
    $\begingroup$ Theres no need to delete, you can always answer your own question so anyone looking in the future can follow your working $\endgroup$ – NotEvans. Jul 3 '17 at 22:20

You need to know the type of reaction that is taking place and what types of bonds are being made and/or broken to determine how many ions the given molecule will split into.


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