11. A solution is made by dissolving 10 grams of salt in 1 liter of water, forming a saltwater solution. Additional water is added to increase the total volume to 2 liters. Which of the following statements describes the effect of the added water on the concentration of the salt solution?
Answer: D
The concentration of the solution decreases by half.
Adding additional water to the saltwater solution increases the total volume while keeping the amount of salt constant, thereby reducing the concentration of salt in the solution.
A) The concentration of the solution doubles.
This option is incorrect because doubling the concentration would imply that the amount of salt has increased while the volume remained the same. In this scenario, the total volume increased due to the addition of water, which does not lead to a doubling of concentration.
B) The concentration of the solution decreases by one-fifth.
This option is incorrect as well. While the concentration does decrease when more water is added, the change is not by one-fifth. The increase in volume from 1 liter to 2 liters results in a larger decrease in concentration than what this option suggests.
C) The concentration of the solution remains the same.
This option is incorrect because the concentration is defined as the amount of solute per unit volume of solution. Since the volume has increased while the amount of salt remains unchanged, the concentration cannot remain the same.
D) The concentration of the solution decreases by half.
This option is correct. Originally, there was 10 grams of salt in 1 liter of water, giving a concentration of 10 grams per liter. After adding water to increase the total volume to 2 liters, the concentration becomes 5 grams per liter, effectively reducing it by half.
Conclusion
The concentration of the saltwater solution is definitively reduced by half due to the addition of water, which doubles the volume of the solution while the amount of salt remains constant. All other options fail to accurately describe the effect of dilution on concentration, as they either overstate or misrepresent the changes in the solution.