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Chemistry · Glossary

What is Partition coefficient?

Definition 29.14 University Chemistry — Year 1 · Chapter 29 — Lab Techniques I: Safety, Measurement and Separation

When a solute A is shared, at equilibrium, between two immiscible solvents, an organic phase and an aqueous phase, the ratio of its concentrations

K=[A]org[A]aqK = \frac{[\mathrm{A}]_{\mathrm{org}}}{[\mathrm{A}]_{\mathrm{aq}}}

is, for dilute solutions at a given temperature, a constant: the partition coefficient of A between the two solvents.

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