What term describes the mass of solute per volume of solvent?

• A. Density
• B. Molarity
• C. Specific heat
• D. Concentration formula

Answer: (D)

Concentration describes how much solute is present in a given amount of solvent. When you express it as mass per volume, you’re using a mass-per-volume form of concentration. The standard way to quantify this is with the concentration formula C = m/V, where m is the mass of the solute and V is the volume (often of solvent or solution, depending on context). This directly shows how much solute occupies each unit of volume.

This differs from density, which is the mass per volume of a pure substance itself, not a dissolved solute in a solvent. Specific heat has to do with energy required to raise temperature and isn’t about solution composition. Molarity uses moles per liter of solution, which shifts from mass and uses a different base unit and a different reference (the solution rather than just solvent). So the best term for mass of solute per volume of solvent is concentration, and the formula that expresses that relationship is C = m/V.