###

ver. 7/26/2009
Copyright 2007-2009 Brian M. Tissue, all rights reserved.
For use with B.M. Tissue, Analytical Chemistry: Chemical Equilibria and Core Concepts.
http://www.chem.vt.edu/chem-ed/a-text/
Quick Start
Click on the 'calculation' worksheet and replace the ions and concentrations in the unshaded cells.
Worksheets in this file
'notes' - this page with background information.
'calculation' - calculates ionic strength and activity coefficients for the entered ions and their concentrations.
'ion size lookup table' - reference table of charge and ion size parameters.
Background
Ionic strength, Ic, is:

where zi is the charge and ci is the molar concentration of ion i.

Activity coefficients are calculated with the
Debye-Huckel equation (valid to 0. and the Davies equation (valid to 0.5 M):

where i is the activity coefficient and di is the ion size parameter.

These equations are valid for aqueous solutions at 25 C.
The values of di are taken from J. Kielland, J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 1937, 59, 1675.
The ions below were listed as 0.4-0.45 nm and are given the value of 0.4 nm in the lookup table.
Na+, CdCl+, ClO2, IO3, HCO3, H2PO4, HSO3, H2AsO4

302665420.xls

Copyright by Brian M. Tissue

http://www.chem.vt.edu/chem-ed/a-text/

302665420.xls

Copyright by Brian M. Tissue

http://www.chem.vt.edu/chem-ed/a-text/

Ionic Strength and Activity Coefficients

Instructions Enter ions and their concentrations in the unshaded cells.
Do not include charge in the ion formulas.
Organic ions must be entered as the empirical formulas.
You can view choices in the 'ion size lookup table'.
Do not overwrite the formulas in the shaded cells.

Ion

Conc. (M)

name

zc

Debye-Huckel Davies Equation

Activity Coefficient
Activity Coefficient

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Ionic Strength
0.000

302665420.xls

Copyright by Brian M. Tissue

http://www.chem.vt.edu/chem-ed/a-text/

Ion Size Lookup Table for activity coefficient calculation

Ion
Ag
Al
H2AsO4
Ba
Be
Br
BrO3
CO3
HCO3
CHO2
C 2O 4
C2H3O2
acetate
CH3COO
C2H2ClO2
C2HCl2O2
C2Cl3O2
C3H2O4
C4H4O4
C4H4O6
C4H5O2
C5H6O4
C5H7O2
C6H2N3O7
C6H5O7
C6H6O7
C6H7O7
C6H8O4
C7H10O4
C7H4ClO2
C7H5O2
C7H5O3
C8H4O4
C8H5O4

z
1
3
-1
2
2
-1
-1
-2
-1
-1
-2
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
-2
-2
-2
-1
-2
-1
-1
-3
-2
-1
-2
-2
-1
-1
-1
-2
-1

d (nm)
0.25
0.9
0.4
0.5
0.8
0.3
0.35
0.45
0.4
0.3
0.45
0.45
0.45
0.45
0.45
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.6
0.6
0.6
0.7
0.5
0.45
0.35
0.6
0.7
0.6
0.6
0.6
0.6
0.6

C8H7O2

-1

0.6

302665420.xls

Alternate Formula

HCOO
(COO)2
CH3COO
CH3COO
CH3COO
CH2ClCOO
CHCl2COO
CCl3COO
CH2(COO)2
(CH2COO)2
(CHOHCOO)2
CH2=CHCH2COO
CH2(CH2COO)2
(CH3)2C=CHCOO
C6H2(NO2)3O
C3H4(OH)(COO)3
C3H4(OH)(COOH)(COO)2
C3H4(OH)(COOH)2(COO)
(C2H4COO)2
CH2(C2H4COO)2
C6H4ClCOO
C6H5COO
C6H4OHCOO
C6H4(COO)2
C6H5CH2COO

Common Name
silver(I) ion
aluminum ion
dihydrogen arsenate ion
barium ion
beryllium ion
bromide ion
bromate ion
carbonate ion
hydrogen carbonate ion
formate ion
oxalate ion
acetate ion
acetate ion
acetate ion
chloroacetate ion
dichloroacetate ion
triichloroacetate ion
malonate ion
succinate ion
tartrate ion
vinylacetate ion
pentanedioate ion
3,3-dimethylacrylate
picrate ion
citrate ion
hydrogen citrate ion
dihydrogen citrate ion
hexanedioate ion
heptanedioate ion
chlorobenzoate ion
benzoate ion
hydroxybenzoate ion
phthalate ion
hydrogenphthalate ion

bicarbonate ion

adipic acid
pimelic acid

anion in KHP

phenylacetate ion
Copyright by Brian M. Tissue

http://www.chem.vt.edu/chem-ed/a-text/

C8H7O3
C8H12O4
C13H11O2
Ca
Cd
CdCl
Ce(III)
Ce(IV)
Cl
ClO2
ClO3
ClO4
CN
Co
Co(en)3
Co(NH3)6
Cr
Cr(NH3)6

-1
-2
-1
2
2
1
3
4
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
2
3
3
3
3

0.7
0.7
0.8
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.9
1.1
0.3
0.4
0.35
0.35
0.3
0.6
0.4
0.4
0.9
0.4

CrO4
Cs
Cu
F
Fe(II)
Fe(III)
Fe(CN)6
Fe(CN)6
H
H3O
Hg(II)
Hg(I)

-2
1
2
-1
2
3
-3
-4
1
1
2
2
-1
-1
-1
3
1
3
1
2
2
-1

0.4
0.25
0.6
0.35
0.6
0.9
0.4
0.5
0.9
0.9
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.4
0.35
0.9
0.3
0.9
0.6
0.8
0.6
0.35

I
IO3
IO4
In
K
La
Li
Mg
Mn
MnO4
302665420.xls

CH3OC6H4COO
(C3H6COO)2
(C6H5)2CHCOO

Hg2

methoxybenzoate ion
octanedioate ion
diphenylacetate ion
calcium ion
cadmium(II) ion
cadmium chloride ion
cerium(III) ion
cerium(IV) ion
chloride ion
chlorite ion
chlorate ion
perchlorate ion
cyanide ion
cobalt(II) ion
trien cobalt(III) ion
hexaammine cobalt(III) ion
chromium(III) ion
hexaammine chromium(III) ion
chromate ion
cesium ion
copper(II) ion
fluoride ion
iron(II) ion
iron(III) ion
ferricyanide ion
ferrocyanide ion
hydrogen ion
hydronium ion
mercury(II) ion
mercury(I) ion
iodide ion
iodate ion
periodate ion
indium ion
potassium ion
lanthanum ion
lithium ion
magnesium ion
manganese(II) ion
permanganate ion
Copyright by Brian M. Tissue

http://www.chem.vt.edu/chem-ed/a-text/

MoO4
NH4
CH6N
C2H8N
C2H8N
C3H10N
C3H10N
C4H12N
C4H12N
C6H16N
C6H16N
C8H20N
C9H22N
C12H28N
C2H6NO2
C2H4NO2
NCO
NO2
NO3
Na
Nd
Ni
OH
PO4
HPO4
H2PO4
Pb(II)
Pr
Ra
Rb
S
HS
SCN
SO3
HSO3
SO4
S2O3
S2O4
S2O6
302665420.xls

-2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
-1
-1
-1
-1
1
3
2
-1
-3
-2
-1
2
3
2
1
-2
-1
-1
-2
-1
-2
-2
-2
-2

0.45
0.25
0.35
0.35
0.4
0.4
0.5
0.45
0.45
0.5
0.6
0.6
0.8
0.8
0.4
0.45
0.35
0.3
0.3
0.4
0.9
0.6
0.35
0.4
0.4
0.4
0.45
0.9
0.5
0.25
0.5
0.35
0.35
0.45
0.4
0.4
0.4
0.5
0.4

CH3NH3
(CH3)2NH2
C2H5NH3
(CH3)3NH
(C3H7)NH3
(CH3)4N
(C2H5)2NH2
(C2H5)3NH
(C3H7)2NH2
(C2H5)4N
(C3H7)3NH
(C3H7)4N
NH3CH2COOH
NH2CH2COO

bisulfide

bisulfite

molybdate ion
ammonium ion
methyl ammonium ion
dimethyl ammonium ion
ethyl ammonium ion
trimethyl ammonium ion
propyl ammonium ion
tetramethyl ammonium ion
diethyl ammonium ion
triethyl ammonium ion
dipropyl ammonium ion
tetraethyl ammonium ion
tripropyl ammonium ion
tetrapropyl ammonium ion
glycine cation
glycine anion
isocyanate ion
nitrite ion
nitrate ion
sodium ion
neodymium ion
nickel(II) ion
hydroxide ion
phosphate ion
hydrogen phosphate ion
dihydrogen phosphate ion
lead(II) ion
praseodymium ion
radium ion
rubidium ion
sulfide ion
hydrogen sulfide ion
thiocyanate ion
sulfite ion
hydrogen sulfite ion
sulfate ion
thiosulfate ion
dithionite ion
dithionate ion
Copyright by Brian M. Tissue

http://www.chem.vt.edu/chem-ed/a-text/

S2O8
Sc
SeO4
Sm
Sn(II)
Sn(IV)
Sr
Th
Tl(I)
WO4
Y
Zn
Zr

302665420.xls

-2
3
-2
3
2
4
2
4
1
-2
3
2
4

0.4
0.9
0.4
0.9
0.6
1.1
0.5
1.1
0.25
0.5
0.9
0.6
1.1

persulfate ion
scandium ion
selenate ion
samarium ion
tin(II) ion
tin(IV) ion
strontium ion
thorium(IV) ion
thallium(I) ion
tungstate ion
yttrium ion
zinc(II) ion
zirconium(IV) ion

Copyright by Brian M. Tissue

http://www.chem.vt.edu/chem-ed/a-text/