Q.a) Define specific conductivity and molar conductivity. What is the effect of dilution on them? (1.5+1.5+1) b) At 25 degrees C, the molar conductivities at infinite dilution of NH4Cl, NaOH and NaCl are 149.7, 248.1 and 126.5 ohm-1 cm2 mol-1 respectively. Calculate the molar conductivity at infinite dilution of NH4OH. (3)
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →Specific conductivity is conductance per unit cell dimension of solution; molar conductivity is the conductance of all ions from 1 mole of electrolyte. Specific conductivity falls on dilution while molar conductivity rises. Kohlrausch's law of independent ionic migration lets us compute Lambda°(NH4OH) from three known strong-electrolyte values.
a) Specific conductivity (kappa, also called conductivity): the conductance of a solution of an electrolyte contained between two electrodes of unit cross-sectional area (1 cm2) placed unit distance (1 cm) apart. It is the reciprocal of specific resistance/resistivity, with units ohm-1 cm-1 (or S cm-1, siemens per cm).
Molar conductivity (Lambda_m): the conducting power of all the ions produced by dissolving one mole of an electrolyte in solution, related to specific conductivity by:
Lambda_m = (kappa x 1000) / M, where M is the molar concentration (mol/L), giving units ohm-1 cm2 mol-1.
Effect of dilution: On dilution, the specific conductivity (kappa) decreases, because the number of ions per unit volume of solution decreases as the solution becomes more dilute. Molar conductivity (Lambda_m), however, increases on dilution: for a weak electrolyte this is mainly because the degree of dissociation increases sharply as concentration decreases, producing more ions per mole; for a strong electrolyte the increase is smaller and is due to decreasing inter-ionic attractions at lower concentration, allowing ions to move more freely. In both cases, Lambda_m approaches a maximum limiting value, Lambda_m° (molar conductivity at infinite dilution / zero concentration).
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