The Electrical Conductivity of a Solution

 

The electrical conductivity () of a solution is the inverse of its specific resistance (), which is the ratio of the applied potential (E) across the opposite faces of a unit cube (1x1x1) to the current carried (I) across opposite faces of the cube. Basically it is a measure of the capacity of the solution to carry a current. Electrical conductivity is, thus, defined by the equation. viz,

 

 

 

The equivalent conductivity () of a solution of conductivity () and ion concentration (c) is defined as,

 

 

The equivalent conductivity will be constant as long as all the solute is completely ionized (which only occurs at infinite dilution).

 

Thus, the degree of ionization () is given by,

 

 

where () is the conductivity at infinite dilution.

 

Consequently the equivalent conductivity at infinite dilution (), taking into account the valency (z) of the ion, will be given by,

 

 

 

 

      where () is the equivalent conductivity of water and the other characters have the meaning previously ascribed to them.