O.K.! Cheesy pun! But you just might encounter this, since chemical solutions are used all the time for chemistry, and they cost a lot! They�re hard to make, hard to find proper containers to store them in, and difficult to transport to the classroom or laboratory. To save time and space, these solutions are bought, or made in concentrated form called stock solutions. It�s like when you or one of your parents buy concentrated juice from the store, it�s concentrated so they wouldn�t have to buy a whole tub or bottle of juice which will weigh and cost more.

Some of these chemical solutions have concentrations of 16M, 20M, or even 24M. That�s pretty concentrated! What if a chemist had a stock of a 16 molarity solution of Al(NO₃)₃ and he wanted to dilute it until he had 1.0 liter of 1.5M. He would have to add water, just like you would add water to concentrated juice, you�re diluting the solution. Now how much water would he add? There is a certain amount of water you need to add to get 1.5M just like you need to add three cans of water to the concentrated juice to get it to taste perfect. Also, how much of the concentrated solution should he dilute? He�s not diluting the entire stock. There is a way to finding this out, but first, there a few things you should know about how teachers and chemists actually dilute their solutions.

First and foremost of all, a flask is mostly used, most likely a volumetric flask. This is because it allows liquids to be easily held, measured, and easily kept for later(a stopper can be plugged in at the top). When a concentrated liquid is about to be diluted, the right amount is placed in that flask and water is added until the level of the solution reached the mark etched on the neck of the flask.