How To Prepare Chemical Solutions

How to Make a Chemical Solution

Volumetric flasks are used to accurately prepare solutions for chemistry.
Volumetric flasks are used to accurately prepare solutions for chemistry. TRBfoto/Getty Images
by Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.
Dr. Helmenstine holds a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences and is a science writer, educator, and consultant. She has taught science courses at the high school, college, and graduate levels.
Updated May 10, 2019

This is how to make a chemical solution using a solid dissolved in a liquid, such as water or alcohol. If you don't need to be very accurate, you can use a beaker or Erlenmeyer flask to prepare a solution. More often, you'll use a volumetric flask to prepare a solution so that you'll have a known concentration of solute in solvent.

  1. Weigh out the solid that is your solute.
  2. Fill the volumetric flask about halfway with distilled water or deionized water (aqueous solutions) or other solvent.
  3. Transfer the solid to the volumetric flask.
  4. Rinse the weighing dish with the water to make certain all of the solute is tranferred into the flask.
  5. Stir the solution until the solute is dissolved. You may need to add more water (solvent) or apply heat to dissolve the solid.
  6. Fill the volumetric flask to the mark with distilled or deionized water.