Experiment 4: Conductivity of electrolyte solutions

Pure water does not conduct electricity, but any solvated ionic species would contribute to conduction of electricity. An ionically conducting solution is called an electrolyte solution and the compound, which produces the ions as it dissolves, is called an electrolyte. A strong electrolyte is a compound that will completely dissociate into ions in water. Correspondingly, a weak electrolyte dissolves only partially. The conductivity of an electrolyte solution depends on concentration of the ionic species and behaves differently for strong and weak electrolytes. In this work the electric conductivity of water containing various electrolytes will be studied. The data will be extrapolated to infinitely dilute solutions and the acidity constant for a given weak electrolyte will also be determined. Additional theoretical background for electrolyte solutions can be found from Refs. [1–3].