If a student needs to make exactly 2.5 liters of

a 1.25 M solution of acetic acid from the 12.0

M stock solution in the chemistry closet, what

must the student do?

260 mL

The concentration of the solution must go from 12.0 M, which is what you have for the stock solution, to 1.25 M.

The dilution factor will thus be

12/1.25 = 9.6

This means that the volume of the stock solution used for the dilution was

2.5 L/9.6 = 0.26 L

Expressed in milliliters and rounded to two sig figs, the answer will be 260 mL.