CHM171L Physical Chemistry 2 Laboratory

1st Quarter SY 2016-2017

Conductimetry: Determination of the Electrical Properties of Solutions

Evidente, Ralph Carlo T.1, Florendo, Mary Florence G. 1, Gapasin, Nica S. 1, Guillermo, Jollana R.1, Gutierrez, Jomari
S.1, and Marquez, Ariziel Ruth 2.
1
2

Students, CHM171L/B12, School of Chemical Engineering, Chemistry and Biotechnology, Mapua Institute of Technology
Professor, CHM171L/B12, School of Chemical Engineering, Chemistry and Biotechnology, Mapua Institute of Technology

ABSTRACT

It is known from understanding the scope of chemistry that conductivity establishes the ability of ions in the
solution to convey current by means of its speed of migration. The unit that is used to define the conductivity of
ions is called Siemens (S). For the conduction of electricity, regardless of what solution to use, it is required for it
to show ions in order to convey the charge from one electrode to another electrode. It follows the direct
proportionality concept that the more number of ions a solution can contain, then there is also increased in the
amount of charge that is conveyed between the electrodes that causes the increase in the solutions conductivity.
This experiment is all about the determination of the conductance of varying solutions together with the
dissociation constants. By using the device called conductivity meter, the conductance of an electrolyte can be
acquired which leads to the interpretation that strong electrolytes contains higher conductance than that of weak
electrolytes due to the total dissociation. In the same way, the concentration of ions in the electrolyte are also
following the concept of direct proportionality to its conductance and relying on the nature of ions that are present.
The Coulombic forces between charges increases when a strong electrolyte is in its elevated concentration which
results to the increase in high conductance. During the dilution, it possesses low conductance due to the reason
of less attractive forces between oppositely charged ions. In the contrary, weak electrolytes are only partially
ionized and shows lower conductance unlike the strong electrolytes. With further ado, the dissociation constant of
a weak electrolyte can be determined with the help of the equilibrium relationship by using the conductivity.
Keywords: molar conductivity, dissociation constant, coulombic forces, electrolytes

INTRODUCTION

The conductance of any solution is a reciprocal of

resistance. Resistance (R) equal to the electrical
potential difference (V) divided by the electric current
(I):

The electrical conductivity is directly proportional to

cross sectional area (A) and inversely proportional to
the length (l) of a material.

R=V/I
G=A/l
The SI unit of potential is volt (v), for current is
ampere (A) and that for resistance is ohm ().
Conductance (G) is the measure of the ability of a
circuit or circuit element to carry current that is
effective in producing power. It is the reciprocal of
the electrical resistance and has a SI unit of
Siemens (S).

Experiment 02 Date Submitted: 09/013/2016

where is the proportionality constant known as the

electrolytic conductivity whose SI unit is S m-1.
For more accurate answer, you may use molar
conductivity which is defined as the electrical
conductivity divided by concentration c.

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CHM171L Physical Chemistry 2 Laboratory

1st Quarter SY 2016-2017

=/c
There are factors to consider in finding the
conductance of the solution. It depends on
temperature, nature of ions, concentration of ions
and the size of the electrode. The electrolytic
conductivity (k) of this experiment is 1.8 x10^-5. The
group gathered a value of 1.79x10^-5 which is
almost the same as the true value. This shows that
the experiment was successful.
It is apparent that our group has achieved these
objectives: (1) to determine the relative mobility of
some monovalent ions by measuring the
conductance of solutions of electrolytes and (2) to
determine the dissociation constant of a weak
electrolyte.

deionized water until the reading goes back to zero

and be dried with a tissue paper afterwards. For the
second part, the dissociation constant of a weak
electrolyte, particularly aqueous ammonia, had been
determined through the conductance measurement
of solutions of potassium hydroxide, a strong
electrolyte, whose ions exhibit the same mobility as
those in aqueous ammonia. The graph for the
concentration vs. conductance of such solutions was
constructed, from which the equation obtained from
the trend line was used for obtaining the dissociation
constant of ammonia ionized in the solution.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This experiment was divided into two parts which

both made use of an electrical conductivity meter for
measuring the conductance of an electrolyte
solution. Current is applied to the outer pair of the
electrodes while the potential between the inner pair
is measured. Conductivity, henceforth, is determined
by using the surface area and the distance between
the electrodes the value for conductance. Upon
doing so, about 50 mL of the 0.1 M solutions of
ammonia chloride, hydrochloric acid, sodium
chloride, sodium acetate and sodium hydroxide,
which had been readily prepared, were put in a
beaker. It must be assured that the volume of the
solution in the container must be enough for the
electrodes to be somehow fully immersed in. For the
last part, six 50 mL of aqueous solutions of
potassium hydroxide had been prepared, each with
varying compositions about 10 mL increment in
terms of the volume of one content.

Figure 1. Conductimetry set-up

For the entire experiment, after the conductivity

meter was assembled, the electrodes were
immersed in each of the prepared solutions. The
conductance was noted down as the readings have
been shown directly on the display screen. Before
running another examination by means of immersing
the electrode back again, it had to be washed with
Experiment 02 Date Submitted: 09/013/2016

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CHM171L Physical Chemistry 2 Laboratory

1st Quarter SY 2016-2017

concentration, molar conductivity rises similar to that

of
the
strong
electrolytes.
Conductivity
measurements are used to distinguish weak and
strong electrolytes, measure degree of ionization,
and determine solubility of soluble salts.
Cation
s

Anions

H+

Cl-

NH4+

CH3COO-

Na+

OH-

On the first part of the experiment, as the

conductivity of different 0.1M solutions of electrolytes
were determined, it was then observed that the
mobility of ions affect the conductance of a particular
solution. That is, higher mobility gives higher
conductance of solution of electrolytes. The velocity
by which ions move towards the electrodes carrying
the electric current varies according to their nature,
i.e. size, molecular weight, number of charges the
ion carries and other factors. It was then concluded
that HCl is the fastest and NaC2H3O2 is the slowest.

Figure 2. After determining the results, carefully

wash the probe.
CONCLUSIONS
This experiment was able to determine the
relative mobility of some monovalent ions by
measuring the conductance of solution of
electrolytes and to determine the dissociation
constant of a weak electrolyte.
Conductivity diminishes as the concentration
is raised. For weak electrolytes, molar conductivity
depends on concentration but to extremely low

Experiment 02 Date Submitted: 09/013/2016

On the second part of the experiment, the

dissociation constant of ammonium hydroxide, a
weak electrolyte, was determined experimentally by
measuring the conductance of KOH solution.
Several trials were done at different concentrations
and the data gathered was plotted in order to find
the linear equation between the conductance and
the concentration of the solution. The equation was
able to provide the concentration of the OH -, and
considering complete ionization, the concentration of
OH- relates with the dissociation constant of NH 4OH.
In this experiment, it is recommended to
observed accurate conductance of different
electrolytic solutions and it also requires accurate
measurements in preparing solutions for better
results.

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CHM171L Physical Chemistry 2 Laboratory

1st Quarter SY 2016-2017

REFERENCES
[1] Atkins, P. and de Paula, J. (2010). Physical
Chemistry. Chapter 21: Electrochemistry. pp. 789.
Oxford University Press: Great Britain.
[2] Physical Chemistry laboratory Manual Part II,
[3] D. Klein, Organic Chemistry (2008)

Experiment 02 Date Submitted: 09/013/2016

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