UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF

SCIENCES
DIVISION-CHEMISTRY
B.Sc. Medical / Non Medical
Basic Analytical Chemistry
SHT-159
Conductometric DISCOVER . LEARN . EMPOWER
Measurements
 Conductometric
Measurements
Course Outcome
CO Title Level
Nu
mbe
r
CO1 understand the basic Understandin
Will be covered in
concepts of Volumetric g
and Gravimetric analysis   this lecture
CO2 understand the basic Analysing
concept of various   https://www.ld-didactic.de/documents/en-US/EXP/C/C3/C3522_
important instrumental e.pdf
techniques
2
CO3 understand Evaluating
 Conductometric
Measurements

Introduction, Effects of dilution,

Conductance Measurements,
Application of Conductance
measurements, Types of
Conductometric Titrations,
Advantages and Disadvantages of
Conductometric Titrations
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-conductometric-titrati
on-of-strong-acid-and-a-strong-base
3
 INTODUCTION

• It is an electrochemical method of analysis concerned with

• electrical conductance through an electrolyte solution .
( or)
• It is defined has as determination or measurement of the
electrical conductance of an electrolyte solution by means of a
conductometer .
• electric conductivity of an electrolyte solution depends on :
1. Type of ions (cations, anions, singly or doubly charged
2. Concentration of ions
3. Temperature
4. Mobility of ions
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 PRINCIPLE

 Based on the conductance of electrical current through electrolyte

solutions similar to metallic conductors
 The electric conductance in accordance with ohms law which states that
the stength of current(i)passing through conductor is directly
porportional to potential difference & inversely to resistance.
i =V/R

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 Important definitions & relations

• Conductance
• Specific conductance
• Molar conductance
• Equivalent conductance
• Resistance
• Specific resistance

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 Important Terms

• Conductance:(G)
 ease with which current flows per unit area of conductor per
unit potential applied & is reciprocal to resistance(R)
G=I⁄R
• Specific conductance (K):
 conductance of the body of uniform length(l) &uniform area
cross section(A)
K =1 ⁄ R × 1 ⁄ A
• Molar conductance: (^)
 Conductance of a solution containing 1 mole of the solute in
1000 cm of the solution which placed between two parallel
electrodes which are 1 cm apart
^ = 1000 ⁄ C 7
 Important Terms

• Equivalent conductance: (^eq)

Specific conductance of the solution containing 1gm equivalent of
solute in 1000cm3 of solution.
^eq =1000k ⁄ ceq
• Resistance (r):
Is a measure of the conductors opposition to the flow of electric
charge
R =1/G
• Specific resistance:(ρ)
Is resistance offered by a conductor of unit length and having unit
cross section
R∞l⁄A
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 Instrumentation

The instrument used for measurement of conductance are

know as conductometers
It consists of :
1. Current source
• Alternating current source
2. Conductivity cells
• Wide mouthed cells
• Cell for reactions producing precipitates
• Dip type cells
3. Electrodes

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 Instrumentation

The instrument used for measurement of conductance are

know as conductometers
It consists of :
1. Current source
• Alternating current source
2. Conductivity cells
• Wide mouthed cells
• Cell for reactions producing precipitates
• Dip type cells
3. Electrodes

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 CURRENT SOURCE

1. Mechanical high frequency AC generator by Washburn .

2. Vreeland oscillator by Taylor and Acree.
3. Vaccum tube oscillator by Hall & Adams.
 When electical potentialis applied across electrodes two
process occurs.
 Ions accumulate near the electrodes.
 Transfer of charge through the interface.
Note : DC current is not employed in conductance measurement
because
1. Electrodes becomes polarised leading to high cell
resistance.

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 Conductivity cells

• Made of pyrex or quartz and are fitted with two

platinum electrodes.
• Should be placed in vessel containing water to
maintain constant temperature
• Types :
• Wide mouthed cell
• Cell for reactions producing precipitation
• Dip type cells

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 Wide mouthed cell

Wide mouthed cell:-

• Measurement of low conductance
• Wide mouthed fitted with an ebonite cover which has
provisions for platinum electrodes and burettes

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 Cell for reactions producing ppts

• Mainly used for ppt reactions

• Also wide mouthed fitted with ebonite cover which has
provisions for burette , electrode,stirrer.
• Stirrer may be mechanical or magnetic

https://www.slideshare.net/KrishnaKumar1406/conductometry 14
-titration?from_action=save
 Instrumentation

Electrodes:
• Platinum sheets, each of 1 cm2 are fixed at distance of 1 cm
• The surface is coated with platinum black to avoid polarization
effects and increase effective surface area.
• Platinisation of electrodes is done by coating solution of 3%
chlorplatinic acid and lead acetate on it to get uniform coating
• Electrodes usage depends on conductivity and concentration
• If conc is low then electrodes should be largely and
• closely packed

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 Measurement
• The instrument used to measure conductance is called
conductance bridge or conductometer
• Classical circuit employed for measurement is
wheatstone bridge
• All other work on this principle
• Various types are:
1. Kohlrausch conductance bridge
2. Direct reading conductance bridge
3. Phillips conductance bridge
4. Mullard’s conductance bridge
5. Pye’s conductance bridge
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 Measurement
• Kohlrausch conductance bridge:
• Consists of a meter bridge XY with fixed resistors
r’ & r” at both ends. One arm of bridge consists of
resistance box ‘R’ & other arm with conductivity
cell ’C’. Detector D is head phone while inductance
coil ‘J’ is AC source which is operated by battery.
• Direct reading conductance bridge:-
• In this head phone is replaced by magic eye
which is electronic device

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 Measurement
• The instrument used to measure conductance is called
conductance bridge or conductometer
• Classical circuit employed for measurement is
wheatstone bridge
• All other work on this principle
• Various types are:
1. Kohlrausch conductance bridge
2. Direct reading conductance bridge
3. Phillips conductance bridge
4. Mullard’s conductance bridge
5. Pye’s conductance bridge
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 Measurement
The set up for Measurement :
consists of meter bridge LN attached to standard
resistance R1 & unknown resistance R2
cell is connected to standard resistance to
one side ,
meter bridge LN at other. The sliding contact with
galvanometer
(G) can be moved on the wire of meter bridge by means
of jockey
(M) so that resistance of unknown is balanced with that
of standard. When galvanometer shows null deflection, the
resistance of unknown is measured by following equation:
ML ⁄ NL =R2 ⁄ R1
R2 =ML ⁄ NL × R1

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 Measurement

Conductivity
cell
Solution

Meter bridge

https://www.slideshare.net/KrishnaKumar1406/conductometry 20
-titration?from_action=save
•Hence conductivity of unknown solution:
1 ⁄ R2 =NL ⁄ ML × R1
The measured conductivity (1/R1) is not always equal to the
specific conductivity of solution , because the physical
configuration of platinum electrode i.e, length and area of
electrodes varies from one another . Hence conductivity of
solution is obtained by calculating a factor called “cell constant”.

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 Cell Constant

Defined as ratio of distance between the two

electrodes(l) to the area of electrodes(A)
There fore,
θ =1 ⁄A

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 CONDUCTOMETRIC TITRATIONS

•INTRODUCTION:
Is process of qualitative chemical analysis in which conc of
sample is determined.Which is done by adding areagent( titrant )
of known conc in measured volumes to the sample (anylate )

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 TYPES OF CONDUCTOMETRIC
TITRATIONS:

•Acid –base or neutral titrations

•Replacement or displacement titrations
•Redox titrations
•Precipitation titrations
•Complexometric titrations
•Non-aqueous titrations

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 ACID- BASE OR NEUTRAL TITRATIONS

 STRONG ACID-STRONG BASE

EG: HCL vs NaOH
 STRONG ACID-WEAK BASE
EG: HCL vs NH4OH
 WEAK ACID-STRONG BASE
EG: CH3COOH vs NaOH
 WEAK ACID -WEAK BASE
EG: CH3COOH vs NH4OH

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 TITRATIONS

 Strong acid strong base:

 Fall in conductance due to replacement of high
conductivity Hydrogen ions by poor conductivity
sodium ions
 Rise in conductance due to increase in hydroxyl ions

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 TITRATIONS

•Strong acid- weak base:

•Fall in conductance due to replacement of hydrogen
by ammonium ions
•Conductance remain constant due to supression of NH40H
by NH4CL

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 TITRATIONS

•Weak acid –Strong base:

•Initial decrease in conductance followed by increase due to
NaOH
•Steep rise due to excess of NaOH

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 TITRATIONS

•Weak acid- weak base:

•Increase in conductance due to excess of CH3COOH
•Constant conductance due to supression of NH4OH by
CH3COOH

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 ADVANTAGE OF CONDUCTOMETRIC
TITRATIONS

1. Does not require indicators since change in conductance is

measured by conductometer
2. Suitable for coloured solutions
3. Since end point is determined by graphical means accurate
results are obtained with minimum error
4. Used for analysis of turbid suspensions, weak acids, weak
bases, mix of weak & strong acids

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 Disadvantages of conductometric
titration

•Increased level of salts in solution masks the conductivity

changes , in such cases it does not give accurate results
•Application of conductometric titrations to redox systems is
limited because, high concentrations of hydronium ions in the
solution tends to mask the changes in conductance

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 Applications

1. Check water pollution in rivers and lakes

2. Alkalinity of fresh water
3. Salinity of sea water (oceanography)
4. Deuterium ion concentration in water- deuterium mixture
5. Food microbiology- for tracing micro organisms
6. Tracing antibiotics
7. Estimate ash content in sugar juices
8. Purity of distilled and de - ionised water can determined
9. Solubility of sparingly soluble salts like
10.AgCl,BaSo4 can be detected
11.Determination of atmospheric so2,etimation of vanillin in
vanilla flavour
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 REFERENCES

1.Mendham, J., A. I. Vogel’s Quantitative Chemical Analysis 6th

Ed., Pearson, 2009.
2.Willard, H.H. et al.: Instrumental Methods of Analysis, 7th Ed.
Wardsworth Publishing Company, Belmont, California, USA, 1988.
3.Christian, G.D. Analytical Chemistry, 6th Ed. John Wiley & Sons,
New York, 2004.
4.Harris, D.C.: Exploring Chemical Analysis, 9th Ed. New York, W.H.
Freeman, 2016.

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THANK YOU