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Chemistry · Ch 5 — Electrochemistry

Electrical conductance of solution

5.3

Electrical conductance of solution

According to Ohm's law, the electrical resistance RR of a conductor equals the electric potential difference VV divided by the electric current II:

R=VI...(5.1)R = \frac{V}{I} \qquad \text{...(5.1)}

The SI unit of potential is volt (V) and that of current is ampere (A). The unit of electrical resistance is ohm, denoted by the symbol Ω\Omega (omega); thus Ω=V A−1\Omega = \mathrm{V\,A^{-1}}.

The electrical conductance GG of a solution is the reciprocal of its resistance:

G=1R...(5.2)G = \frac{1}{R} \qquad \text{...(5.2)}

The SI unit of GG is siemens, denoted by S, which is equal to Ω−1\Omega^{-1}. Therefore we can write S=Ω−1=A V−1=C V−1 s−1\mathrm{S = \Omega^{-1} = A\,V^{-1} = C\,V^{-1}\,s^{-1}}, where C represents coulomb, the unit of quantity of electricity, related to current strength in ampere and time in seconds as C=A s\mathrm{C = A\,s}.

The electrical resistance of a conductor is proportional to its length ll and inversely proportional to its cross-sectional area aa: …