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Dilution calculator

C₁V₁ = C₂V₂. Leave the unknown blank.

Work it out

Fill in all but one. 4 boxes are empty, so there is more than one answer.

A worked example

You have 2 M hydrochloric acid and need 500 mL of 0.1 M.

25 mL of stock, made up to 500 mL

  1. 1V₁ = C₂V₂ / C₁ = (0.1 M × 0.500 L) / 2 M = 0.025 L.
  2. 2Measure 25 mL of the 2 M stock.
  3. 3Add solvent until the total volume is 500 mL — that is 475 mL of solvent, but measure the total, not the addition.

What this assumes

  • Volumes are taken as additive. For concentrated solutions, and for mixing solvents, they are not — which is why a dilution is made up to a final volume rather than by adding a calculated amount of solvent.
  • Always add concentrated acid to water, not water to acid.

The terms used here

Stock solution
A concentrated solution kept to be diluted as needed.
Dilution factor
How many times more dilute the result is: C₁/C₂, or equivalently V₂/V₁.

This calculator runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere, and no account is needed. If you want to go further than arithmetic — look a structure up, see what a reaction has been recorded as giving, or follow a mechanism — the library is open too.