Chapter- 4 : Reagents (solution) used in clinical laboratories

4.2. Types of solution

• 1.Solid solution: - are mixtures of two or more solids and they are dispersed or mixed randomly throughout one another resulting a heterogeneous mixture. Eg. Alloys
• 2.Gaseous solution :-is a homogeneous mixture of two or more gases
• E.g. Air is a solution of O2, N2, H2, CO2 & other gases.
• 3. Liquid solution: - is a solution where the solvent liquid & solute are also liquid but it can be solid or gas.

4.3 Expression of the strength of solution

• Expression of the strength of solutions is broadly divided into two
• 1.Relative Expressions of the concentration
• 2. Quantitative expression of the concentration.
• 1. Relative expressions of the concentrations
• a. Dilute solution
• - Small amount of solute dissolved in large amount of solvent
• Example, 00001M NaOH, 1% H2SO4

Expression of the strength of …….

• c. Concentrated solution
• Large amount of solute dissolved in a small amount of solvents Example, 98% H2SO4.
• c. Saturated
• It is one in which a given volume of solvent has dissolved all the solute that it can under a given condition of temperature and pressure.
• d. Supper saturated solutions.
• A super saturated solution is a solution which holds more solute than it can hold normally at a given temperature and pressure.

2. Quantitative expressions of concentration of solution

• The concentration of solutes in a solution can be expressed quantitatively in physical units or chemical units.
• A. Physical unit:
• Percentages
• Parts per unit
• Density
• Specific gravity