Conductivity of Ionic Solutions Lab Report Essay Example

Goggles Beaker (150 ml, 150 ml, 100ml) Distilled water 390ml Safety Coat Bottles x5 Electrodes and fitting apparatus Alcohol 80 ml Labels x6 Measuring Cylinder 10 ml Electrical Wires Measuring Cylinder 50 ml 30v Power supply HypothesisIf NaCl is put in a solution with the least amount of alcohol, then it will have a lower conductivity compared to NaCl put in distilled water because ionic solutions don’t mix with alcohol.

Method First you prepare the area you are going to be working in. Then you put in the necessary equipment. Do not forget to label each of the bottles so as not to get confused later. The electric circuit must be set up as shown in the figure to the right.

What isn’t shown in this diagram is the voltmeter. The voltmeter must be placed so that it does not affect the ammeter.It must be attached behind the ammeter. Measure out each of the six solutions according to the measurements shown in the table below. Remember to stir after the addition of water and to stir while adding alcohol.

Place the solutions in the bottles according to their labels. Pour the first solution into a 150 ml beaker. Place the electrodes at the bottom of the beaker and switch on the power supply to 10 volts. Observe and record the ammeter, voltmeter, and overall reaction. Repeat steps for the other five solutions.We had make sure for a fair test, so we had a control experiment.

The control experiment needed to be something that was logical and worked. This is what our control experiment was. You set up the circuit and fill one beaker with 50 ml of tap water.

Then you put the electrodes in the water and switch on the power supply to 10 volts. If all is well then you can continue.

Solution Volume NaCL(aq)Volume H2OVolume alcohol 110900 2108010 3107020 4106030 5105040 all measurements are in ml Results SolutionsVoltmeterAmmeterComments 19. 960. 38Bubbles around the negative electrode 10. 040. 29 Flat foam forms on the surface of the solution, bubbling, foam turns yellow 310. 050.27 Loads of bubbles, foam forms at the surface of the solution. The solution becomes cloudy 410. 060. 17  Slow bubbling 510. 140. 20 Bubbling, solution smells like chlorine.

Conclusion

When we increased the amount of alcohol and decreased the amount of water, the conductivity decreased. So the conclusion for this case would be that the solvent in which the ionic substance was mixed with affects the conductivity negatively. This can be drawn from the processed data quite easily..

I believe that the reason for this is that alcohol has no conductivity. Ionic compounds only dissolve and conduct in water, thus the more alcohol was added, the less it conducted. This experiment was one of a successful nature. I believe that the experiment was very reliable.

We kept our controlled variables the same, there was not even a possibility that our circuit and other variables could have been altered. Furthermore, we followed our method meticulously and ensure that everything was accurately measured. Therefore I conclude that our experiment was very reliable and fair.As will all experiments, there are some improvements that should be implemented as to keep a smooth running of this practical. We ran into a few problems when setting up our circuit so in the future, setting up the circuit should be

perhaps practiced beforehand. Maybe some things could be adjusted with the overall plan of the experiment. The experiment was pretty clumsy because we had to add solutions into slim beakers, which caused for some spills.

Works Cited

1. Conductivity. University of Southern Maine. Web. 29 Oct. 2010.

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