Distribution law
Distribution law or the Nernst's distribution law gives a generalisation which governs the distribution of a solute between two non miscible solvents.This law was first given by Nernst who studied the distribution of several solutes between different appropriate pairs of solvents.
The statement of the law is
" If a solute X distributes itself between two non miscible solvents A & B at constant temperature & X is in the same molecular condition in both the solvents, then: concentration of X in A / Concentration of X in B = Kd"
Where Kd is called the distribution coefficient or the partition coefficient.
If C1 denotes the concentration of solute in solvent A & C2, the concentration of X in B; Nernst's distribution law can be expressed as C1/C2 = Kd
See also
Further reading
- Martin's Physical Pharmacy & pharmaceutical sciences; fifth edition, Patrick.J.Sinko ISBN 0-7817-6426-2, Lippincot williams & wilkins. Note, this source does not describe Nernst in the manner the text presents, noe is it evident that it is the source of the quotation (as much as one can surmise through search). Lacking full information (i.e., page number), the source is move to Further reading.