Question

What happens to the concentration of a solute when the solvent evaporates?

Answer 1

When the solvent evaporates from a solution, the concentration of the solute generally increases. This occurs because the amount of solute remains constant while the volume of the solvent decreases. As the solvent evaporates, there is less liquid to dilute the solute, resulting in a higher concentration of the solute in the remaining solution.

Mathematically, concentration is defined as the amount of solute divided by the volume of solvent. Thus, as the volume of solvent decreases due to evaporation, the concentration (amount of solute per unit volume of solution) increases.