please help, I don't know how to answer this question :(
sodium sulfate is soluble in water. How do you expect its conducatance to compare to sodium acetate at the same concentration? explain
To answer this question, we need to understand the concept of conductivity and the properties of sodium sulfate and sodium acetate in water.
Conductivity is a measure of a substance's ability to conduct an electric current. In an aqueous solution, conductivity is primarily determined by the presence and mobility of ions. Ions are formed when a substance dissolves in water, and they are responsible for carrying the electric charge.
Now, let's focus on sodium sulfate and sodium acetate:
1. Sodium Sulfate (Na2SO4):
Sodium sulfate dissociates completely in water, forming two sodium ions (Na+) and one sulfate ion (SO4²-). These ions are highly mobile in water due to their strong ionic properties. Hence, sodium sulfate results in a high concentration of ions, leading to high conductivity.
2. Sodium Acetate (CH3COONa):
Sodium acetate also dissociates in water, forming one sodium ion (Na+) and one acetate ion (CH3COO-). However, the dissociation of sodium acetate is not as aggressive as sodium sulfate. The acetate ion partially associates with uncharged acetate molecules, creating weakly associated pairs, which reduces the concentration of free ions. Consequently, the conductivity of sodium acetate at the same concentration will be lower than sodium sulfate.
In summary, due to the higher degree of dissociation and higher concentration of ions, we can expect the conductivity of sodium sulfate to be higher than sodium acetate at the same concentration in water.