2.9 Vapour pressure of pure water at 298 K is 23.8 mm Hg. 50 g of urea (NH2CONH2) is dissolved in 850 g of water. Calculate the vapour pressure of water for this solution and its relative lowering.

It is given that vapour pressure of water, = 23.8 mm of Hg

Weight of water taken, w1 = 850 g

Weight of urea taken, w2 = 50 g

Molecular weight of water, M1 = 18 g mol−1

Molecular weight of urea, M2 = 60 g mol−1

Now, we have to calculate vapour pressure of water in the solution. We take vapour pressure as p1.

Now, from Raoult’s law, we have:

p10-p1p10=n2n1+n2
p10-p1p10=w2M2w1M1+w2M2
23.8-p123.8=506085018+5060
23.8-p123.8=0.8347.22+0.83
23.8-p123.8=0.0173
p1=23.4 mm of Hg

Hence, the vapour pressure of water in the given solution is 23.4 mm of Hg and its relative lowering is 0.0173.