According to chemistry principles, a solute and solvent combine to form a solution. An example can be salt dissolved in water. In order to understand how to calculate the dilution factor from a given concentration value, we need to first understand a few terms. Dilution Reducing the concentration of any chemical (solution, gas, vapor) is called dilution. The concentration level of many solutions is much more than the desired level. Therefore, a solvent is added to such solutions to make them diluted. This process is carried out in day-to-day life. Consider concentrated orange squash. It is diluted with water before consumption. Dilution reduces the 'ph' level of the chemical. Concentration The amount of solute dissolved in any solvent is termed as the concentration. Concentration is the inverse of dilution. Its units are M (molar), mg/L, and ppm. Molarity of a solution is higher when it is concentrated. The number of moles of solute remain the same before and after dilution. In order to dilute a given solution, solvent is added to the original concentrated solution. On addition of the solvent, the quantity of the solution increases. Consider the initial volume and concentration of the solution as V_initial and C_initial, respectively. On dilution, the final volume and concentration of the solution changes to V_final and C_final, respectively. Dilution Factor The ratio of volume of the initial solution (concentrated) to the volume of the final solution (diluted) is called dilution factor. Consider the formula: If you have three out of four values in the above equation, you can go about calculating the fourth value. Serial Dilution The process of bringing about step-by-step dilution of a solution is called serial dilution. In this process, the dilution factor remains constant throughout. Serial dilution finds its applications in physics, pharmacology, biochemistry, etc. Dilution is a commonly followed practice for diluting any solution, gas, or vapor. For human beings, it is difficult to breathe pure oxygen. However, it gets mixed with other gases in the atmosphere, which makes it suitable for the breathing process. Therefore, the significance of this process is crystal clear.