Question

State distribution law and give its three applications.

Answer 1

Hint: It will be easier to understand the applications of distribution law after expressing the distribution law in terms of molar concentration in the organic layer and molar concentration in the aqueous layer.

Complete answer:
-According to the distribution law, a solute gets distributed between the two layers of liquid which does not form a homogenous mixture when mixed, in such a way that the ratio of its solubility becomes equal to the ratio of its concentration in each solvent.
-With the help of the above classification, we can easily express the distribution constant in terms of molar concentration in the organic layer and molar concentration in the aqueous layer.
${{k}_{d}}=\dfrac{{{C}_{0}}}{{{C}_{w}}}$
Where ${{k}_{d}}$ is the distribution coefficient or constant
${{C}_{0}}$ is the molar concentration in the organic layer
${{C}_{w}}$ is the molar concentration in the aqueous layer
Some of the notable applications of the distribution law are:
-With the help of the distribution law, we can measure the solubility of a solute
-With the proper application of the distribution law, we can easily extract a single substance from a solution of multiple substances.
-Another application of the distribution law is that it can be used in high-performance liquid chromatography.

Note:
Nernst was the first person who gave this law. He studied the distribution of multiple solutes between different and appropriate pairs of solvents. This is the reason, in various platforms the Distribution law is also introduced as the Nernst’s distribution law which governs the distribution of a solute between two non-miscible solvents.