Ideal Picture House

An ideal solution or ideal mixture is a solution that exhibits thermodynamic properties analogous to those of a mixture of ideal gases. The enthalpy of mixing is zero, as is the volume change on mixing. The vapor pressures of all components obey Raoult's law across the entire range of concentrations, and the activity coefficient (which measures deviation from ideality) is equal to one for each component. The concept of an ideal solution is fundamental to both thermodynamics and chemical thermodynamics and their applications, such as the explanation of colligative properties.