Draw a suitable diagram to express the relationship for ideal solutions of A and B between vapour pressures and mole fractions of components at constant temperature.
Solution
For an ideal solution, each partial pressure follows Raoult's law:
pA=xApA∘,pB=xBpB∘
On a graph of pressure against mole fraction (xA from 0 to 1), pA and pB are straight lines from the origin-ends to pA∘ and pB∘ respectively, and the total pressure
p=pA+pB
is the straight line joining pB∘ (at xA=0) to pA∘ (at xA=1), lying above both partial-pressure lines (see figure).Ideal solution: partial pressures and total pressure vs mole fraction (Raoult's law)