Conductometry

Lecture 5

2021 spring semester, Vilnius Tech Lecturer Ingrida Bružaitė

 Introduction
• Ohm’s law;
• Conductometric measurements;
• Factor affecting conductivity;
• Application of conductometry.
Conductometric titration:
• Types of conductometric titration;
• Advantages of conductometric titration.

2021 spring semester, Vilnius Tech Lecturer Ingrida Bružaitė

 Conductometry
It is an electrochemical method of analysis
used for the determination or measurement
of the electrical conductance of an
electrolyte solution by means of a
conductometer.
It is the simplest of the electroanalytical
techniques.

2021 spring semester, Vilnius Tech Lecturer Ingrida Bružaitė

 Introduction
Conductivity is the ability of the medium to
carry "the electric current“.

There are two types of conductors:

• metals (flow of electrons);

• solution of electrolytes and melting of

electrolytes (movement of ions).

2021 spring semester, Vilnius Tech Lecturer Ingrida Bružaitė

 Introduction
Conductance of electricity it is migration of
positively charged ions towards the cathode
and negatively charged ions towards the
anode.
• Current is carried by all ions present in
solution;
• Conductance depends on the number of
ions in solution.

2021 spring semester, Vilnius Tech Lecturer Ingrida Bružaitė

 Introduction
• Conductometry means measuring the
conductivity of ionic solutions caused by
mobility of ions towards respective
electrodes in presence of electric field;
• Conductivity is measured by using
conductometer;
• Unit of conductivity is siemens (ohm-1 or
Ω-1).

2021 spring semester, Vilnius Tech Lecturer Ingrida Bružaitė

 Electric conductivity
Electric conductivity of an electrolyte solution
depends on:
• Types of ions (cations, anions, singly or doubly charged);
• Concentration of ions (as number of ions increases, the
conductance of electricity increases too);
• Temperature (as temperature increases by 1°C, the
conductivity increases by 2%);
• Mobility of ions;
• Size of electrodes (conductance is directly proportional
to cross sectional area).

2021 spring semester, Vilnius Tech Lecturer Ingrida Bružaitė

 Principle
• The main principle involved in this method is that the
movement of the ions creates the electrical
conductivity. The movement of ions is mainly
depend on the concentration of the ions.

• The electrical conductance in accordance with

Ohm’s law which states that the strength of current
(i) passing through conductor is directly proportional
to potential difference and inversely to
resistance: i=E/R
Where i – current in amperes;
E – potential difference;
R – resistance in ohm’s.

2021 spring semester, Vilnius Tech Lecturer Ingrida Bružaitė

 Important definitions and relations
• Conductance (G) case with which current
flows per unit area of conductor per unit
potential applied and is reciprocal to
resistance (R) its is Siemens (ohm-1):
G = 1/R
• Resistance (R) is a measure of the
conductors opposition to the flow of electric
charge. Unit is Ohm (Ω): R = 1/G.

2021 spring semester, Vilnius Tech Lecturer Ingrida Bružaitė

 Important definitions and relations
• Specific resistance(ρ): resistance offered by
a substance of 1 cm length (l) and 1sq.cm
surface area (A). Unit is ohm-cm (Ω∙cm):
𝐀
𝛒=𝐑
𝐥
• Specific conductivity (kv): conductivity
offered by a substance of 1 cm length (l) and
1 sq.cm surface area. Unit is ohm-1cm-1
kv = 1/ρ

2021 spring semester, Vilnius Tech Lecturer Ingrida Bružaitė

 Important definitions and relations
• Equivalent conductivity (λv): conductivity
of solution containing equivalent weight of
the solute between electrodes 1 cm apart
and 1 sq.cm surface area. Unit is ohm-1∙
cm2 ∙ equiv-1.
𝑘𝑉 ∙ 1000
𝜆𝑉 =
𝑁𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦

2021 spring semester, Vilnius

Lecturer Ingrida Bružaitė
Tech
 Important definitions and relations
• Molar conductivity (λm): conductivity of
solution containing molecular weight of the
solute between electrodes 1 cm apart and 1
sq.cm surface area. Unit is:Ohm-1∙cm2∙mol-1

𝑘𝑉 ∙ 1000
𝜆𝑚 =
𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦

2021 spring semester, Vilnius

Lecturer Ingrida Bružaitė
Tech
Equivalent conductivity (λ0 or λv)
• Magnitude of (λv) is determined by the
charge, size and degree of hydration of
the ion.

• Equivalent conductivity (λv ) is also known

as limiting ionic conductance or ionic
mobility.

2021 spring semester, Vilnius

Lecturer Ingrida Bružaitė
Tech
 Molar conductance of various ions
at infinite dilution at 25°C

2021 spring semester, Vilnius Tech Lecturer Ingrida Bružaitė

 Equivalent conductance of various
ions at infinite dilution at 25°C
• H+ and OH- ions have the largest
equivalent conductances.

• H2O has very low conductivity.

2021 spring semester, Vilnius

Lecturer Ingrida Bružaitė
Tech
Exercise No.1.
Calculate limiting equivalent conductance
(using ionic mobility) of:
(a)Sulfuric acid;
(b)Propionic acid (CH3-CH2-COOH);
(c) Propionic acid you get from sodium
propionic, HCl and NaCl.

2021 spring semester, Vilnius

Lecturer Ingrida Bružaitė
Tech
2021 spring semester, Vilnius
Lecturer Ingrida Bružaitė
Tech
 Application of conductometry
It can be used for determination of:
• solubility of sparingly soluble salt;
• Ionic product of water;
• Basicity of organic acids;
• Salinity of sea water ;
• Chemical equilibrium ionic reactions;
• Conductometric titration.

2021 spring semester, Vilnius

Lecturer Ingrida Bružaitė
Tech
 Conductometric titrations

2021 spring semester, Vilnius Tech Lecturer Ingrida Bružaitė

 Types of conductometric titrations
• Acid-base titration;
• Precipitation titration;
• Replacement titration;
• Oxidation-reduction titration;
• Complexometric titration.

2021 spring semester, Vilnius

Lecturer Ingrida Bružaitė
Tech
 Acid-base titration
• Reaction between strong acid and strong base:
• Strong acid : HCl
• Strong base : NaOH

NaOH + HCl → NaCl + H2O

2021 spring semester, Vilnius Tech Lecturer Ingrida Bružaitė

 Acid-base titration
Reaction between strong acid and weak
base:
Strong acid : HCl
Weak base : NH4OH

HCl + NH4OH → NH4Cl + H2O

2021 spring semester, Vilnius

Lecturer Ingrida Bružaitė
Tech
 Acid-base titration
Reaction of weak acid and strong base:
Weak acid : CH3COOH
Strong base : NaOH

CH3COOH + NaOH → CH3COONa + H2O

2021 spring semester, Vilnius
Lecturer Ingrida Bružaitė
Tech
 Acid-base titration
Reaction of weak acid and weak base:
Weak acid : CH3COOH
Weak base : NH4OH

CH3COOH + NH4OH → CH3COONH4 + H2O

2021 spring semester, Vilnius Tech Lecturer Ingrida Bružaitė

 Acid-base titration
Reaction of mixture of strong acid and a
weak acid vs a strong base or a weak base:
Strong acid : HCl
Weak acid : CH3COOH
Strong base : NaOH
Weak base : NH4OH

2021 spring semester, Vilnius

Lecturer Ingrida Bružaitė
Tech
 Acid-base titration
Displacement / Replacement titrations:
Salt of weak acid : CH3COONa
Strong acid : HCl
Salt of weak base : NH4Cl
Strong base : NaOH

2021 spring semester, Vilnius

Lecturer Ingrida Bružaitė
Tech
 Precipitation titration
AgNO3 + KCl → AgCl + KNO3

2021 spring semester, Vilnius

Lecturer Ingrida Bružaitė
Tech
2021 spring semester, Vilnius
Lecturer Ingrida Bružaitė
Tech