CHEMISTRY

INVESTIGATORY
PROJECT

TOPIC: Variance in
conductivity of solution
PROJECT BY: Harshal
Sharma

CLASS: XII-B
1
GUIDED BY: Mrs Reshmi
Nair

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Harshal
Sharma , student of class XII-B has
successfully completed the
Chemistry Project under the
guidance of Mrs Reshmi. This
project is genuine and is not
plagiarism of any kind. The
references used in making this
project file are declared at the end
of the file.

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Externals Sign:
Internals Sign

_____________
______________

ACKNOWLEDGEM
ENT
I wish to express my deep
gratitude and sincere thanks to
the Principal, Mrs Nirmala Kumari,
Kendriya Vidyalaya Mysore
School, for her encouragement
and for all the facilities she has
provided for this project work.
3
I extend my hearty thanks to my
subject teacher Mrs Reshmi and
Lab Assistant Puttaraju Sir who
guided me to the successful
completion of this project. I take
this opportunity to express my
deep sense of gratitude for their
invaluable guidance, constant
encouragement and immense
motivation which has sustained
my efforts at all stages of this
project work. I cant forget to offer
my sincere thanks to my
classmates who helped me to
carry out this project work
successfully and for their valuable
advice and support which I
received for them time to time.

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 INDEX
Sr No. Contents Page No.

1 Aim of the Experiment 5

2 Introduction 6

3 Apparatus Required 7

4 Theory 8

5 Procedure 10

6 Physical Constants 13

7 Observation and Graph 14

8 Result 20

9 Conclusion 21

10 Precautions 22

11 Bibliography 23

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 AIM
To find the variation of
conductance with temperature
and concentration in electrolytes

6
 APPARATUS
REQUIRED
1) Glass beakers;
2) CuSO4 solution;
3) ZnSO4 solution;
4) Rheostat;
5) Bunsen Burner;
6) Ammeter;
7) Voltmeter;
8) Thermometer;
9) Measuring Flask;
10) Electrodes;
11) Tripod Stand;
12) Wire Gauze;
13) Weighing Scale;
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14) Spatulas and Stirrers;

8
 INTRODUCTION
Conductivity is the ability of a solution to
pass an electric current.
This depends on a number of factors
including concentration, mobility of the
ions, valence of the ions and temperature.
As the temperature of a solution
increases, the mobility of the ions in the
solution also increases and consequently
this will lead to an increase in its
conductivity.
Pure water does not conduct electricity,
but any solvated ionic species would
contribute to conduction of electricity. An
ionically conducting solution is called an
electrolyte solution and the compound,
which produces the ions as it dissolves, is
called an electrolyte.
The conductivity of an electrolyte solution
depends on concentration of the ionic
species and behaves differently for strong
and weak electrolytes. The conductivity
9
 also changes with change in temperature
due to difference in viscosity of liquid.
In this work the electric conductivity of
water containing various electrolytes will
be studied with varying temperature and
concentration.

THEORY
Movement of ions in water can be studied
by installing a pair of electrodes into the
liquid and by introducing a potential
difference between the electrodes. Like
metallic conducting materials, electrolyte
solutions follow Ohms law: R = V/I
where R is the resistance (,ohms), V is
the potential difference (V,Volts)
,and I is the current (A,Amperes).

Conductance G (S, Siemens or 1 ) is

then defined as reciprocal of the
resistance: G = 1/R

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 Conductance of a given liquid sample
decreases when the distance between the
electrodes increases and increases when
the effective area of the electrodes
increases. This is shown in the following
relation: G , where is the
conductivity (S m1 ), A is the
crosssectional area of the electrodes (m 2 ;
i.e., the effective area available for
conducting electrons through the liquid),
and l is the distance between the
electrodes (m).

Molar conductivity m (S m2 mol1 ) is

defined as:
m = / c , where c is the molar
concentration of the added electrolyte.
The factors which affect the electrical
conductivity of the solutions are:
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 1.The nature of the electrolyte added;
2.Size of the ions produced and
dissolution;
3.The nature of the solvent and its
viscosity;
4.Concentration of the electrolyte;
5.Temperature (it increases with the
increase of temperature);

The variation is different for strong and

weak electrolytes.
For Strong Electrolytes, It is given
according to the equation:

are the molar conductance at a

given
concentration and at infinite dilution
(respectively). b is a constant depending
on the viscosity of the solvent.
decreases as the concentration increases.

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 PROCEDURE
The electrolyte chosen is CuSO4

1.5g of CuSO4 is measured and put in a

solution
containing constant volume of 150 mL:

The vessel and electrodes are removed

and the vessel is cleaned and filled with
CuSO4 solution.

The electrodes are refitted back into the

vessel at their original place so that the
distance between them does not change.
A thermometer is also put in the
electrolyte.

Current is passed and when the Voltmeter

and Ammeter show steady readings, they
are noted at a constant temperature
which is recorded by the thermometer.

Ammeter and Voltmeter readings taken

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 - This reading indicates the back EMF in
the electrolyte.

Similarly, more sets of reading are taken

at same, as well as different values of
temperature along with different values of
concentration [with 1.5g, 3g, 7g].
Temperature is changed my supplying
heat through a Bunsen Burner.

Value of Resistance is calculated using

Ohms Law. Thus, the value of
conductance is also calculated.

The switched on circuit readings in

voltmeter and ammeter are noted.

The current through the electrolyte is

changed by adjusting the rheostat and
more sets of readings are taken. Voltage
is also changed.

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 Thus, the mean value of resistance is
calculated.

Above steps are repeated for ZnSO4 as

electrolyte and the readings are recorded at
different values of temperature and at
different concentration of the solution. The
mass taken is 5g,7g and 9g and volume of
the solution is 150 mL.

PHYSICAL
CONSTANTS
For the purpose of accuracy and
convenience, some important aspects of
the electrolyte process are kept constant in
the experiment as their variation might
affect the conductivity of the electrolyte.
They are:
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VOLTAGE;

NATURE OF ELECTRODES;

SIZE OF ELECTRODES;

SEPARATION BETWEEN ELECTRODES;

VOLUME OF THE ELECTROLYTES [150 mL];

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Observation for CuSO4 electrolyte:
Concentration Temperature Ammeter Voltmeter Resistance Conductance
reading[I] reading [V] R=V / I G=1 / R

(M) (C) (mA) (V) () (S)

0.0626 33 17.56 2.35 134.603 0.0074

35 17.62 2.35 133.333 0.0075

50 17.74 2.15 121.168 0.0083

0.125 33 33.032 2.1 69.369 0.0144

35 33.250 2.005 66.6665 0.0150

43 38.353 1.565 57.530 0.0173

50 23.748 2.13 50.584 0.0197

0.292 35 17.465 2.023 35.333 0.0283

40 7.9193 1.406 17.754 0.0458

50 9.2486 1.523 16.467 0.0607

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Temperature vs. Conductance
(keeping Concentration Constant):

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 0.0626
M

0.125M

0.07
0.292M

0.06

0.05

0.04
Conductance

0.03
Temperature

0.02

0.01

0
35.0 36.0 37.0 38.0 39.0 40.0 41.0 42.0 43.0 44.0 45.0 46.0 47.0 48.0 49.0 50.0

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Concentration Vs. Conductance
(Keeping Temperature constant at
35C):

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 T= 35C

0.03

0.0225

Conductance (S)
0.015

0.0075

0
0.0626 0.125 0.292
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 Concenteration (M)

Observation for ZnSO4 electrolyte:

Concentration Temperature Ammeter Voltmeter Resistance Conductance
reading[I] reading [V] R=V / I G=1 / R

(M) (C) (mA) (V) () (S)

0.206 35 50.9925 3.21 6.295 0.1588

40 50.629 3.16 6.241 0.1602

50 46.098 2.85 6.182 0.1617

0.289 35 44.194 2.72 6.154 0.1624

40 42.711 2.6 6.146 0.1626

50 42.657 2.6 6.118 0.1634

0.366 35 43.366 2.66 6.133 0.1630

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 40 41.958 2.57 6.125 0.1632

50 42.865 2.62 6.112 0.1636

Temperature vs. Conductance

(keeping Concentration Constant):

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 0.206M

0.164 0.289M

0.366M
0.163

0.162

0.161

Conductance
0.16

Temperature
0.159

0.158

0.157

0.156
35.0 36.0 37.0 38.0 39.0 40.0 41.0 42.0 43.0 44.0 45.0 46.0 47.0 48.0 49.0 50.0

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 Concentration Vs. Conductance
(Keeping Temperature constant at
35C):

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 T= 35C

0.1635

0.162

0.1605
Conductance (S)

0.159

0.1575

0.156 26
0.206 0.289 0.36
 Concenteration (M)

RESULT
The relevant graphs shows that the
1 / Resistance of an electrolyte
increases at a steady rate as the
temperature increases.

Also, Conductivity vs. Concentration

graphs increase Linearly at a
constant given temperature of an
electrolyte.

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 CONCLUSION
On heating a solution, it is known that
viscosity gradually decreases, with
decrease in viscosity, the speed and
movement of the ions increases. In
other words, the conductance of the
electrolyte increases with increase in
temperature. Hence, the result of the
experiment agrees with reasoning.

On increasing the concentration of the

electrolyte the conductivity increases
due to increase in number of ions of
solute i.e increase in no. of ions of
CuSO4 and ZnSO4. Solvent i.e water is
kept constant at 150 mL.

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 PRECAUTIONS
Variation of resistance due to one of the
factors should be kept constant.

The electrodes used in each case should

always be kept parallel to each other.

The solution should be kept undisturbed

throughout the experiment.

For each observation, three readings are

taken and the mean value is considered.

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 The distance between the electrodes
should be kept constant.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS:

Chemistry (Part I) Textbook for Class

XII; National Council of Educational
Research and Training

Concepts of Physics 2 by H C Verma;

Bharti Bhawan(Publishers & Distributors)

WEB LINKS:

www.icbse.com

http://www.jenway.com/adminimages/A0
2_001A_Effect_of_temperature_on_cond
uctivity.pdf http://www.researchgate.net/

http://www.emedicalprep.com/studymat
erial/chemistry/electro-
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 chemistry/electrolyticconductance-
factors.html

http://chem-
guide.blogspot.in/2010/04/variation-
ofconductivity-with.html

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