Imagine you have a light bulb and battery conductivity tester. You are given a dilute solution of copper sulfate and a dilute solution of vinegar, acetic acid. Coppersulfate is an ionic compound. You may recall acetic acid reacts with water to produce ions in solution according to the equation:
H2O+CH3COOH---><---CH3COO-+H3O+
so here is the questions:
#1. What would be the result if you tested each of these solutions for conductivity?
#2. Suppose you added more copper sulfate and acetic acid to the solutions and retested. Would that change the results? Explain.
And #3. If you continued to add copper sulfate abd acetic acid until the solutions held as much solute as possible what would be the result? Expalin.
Please help me this question has totally got me!
Your question isn't exactly clear; however, I can get you started.
CuSO4 is an ionic compound; therefore, the solution, even a dilute one, will contain Cu(II) ions and Sulfate ions. That will conduct electricity. Adding more CuSO4(solid--that is the part that isn't clear) will produce more ions and that will increase the conductivity. And the conductivity will increase until the solutuion is saturated with copper(II) sulfate.
Acetic acid is a weak electrolyte. It will have some ions but not as many as CuSO4; therefore, the conducitivy of the dilute solution of acetic acid will be weak(er) than the CuSO4. Adding more (pure acetic acid--again this is the part that isn't clear) to the solution may increase the conductivity somewhat but only slightly. Changing the concentration of acetic acid from 0.001 M to 0.1M (a hundred fold) changes the conductivity by only 10 times. Changing to 10M (another 100 fold) changes the conductivity by only another 10 times. Adding more pure acetic acid will come to the point that no increase in conductivity is noticed because when all of the water molecules have been used up to ionize the pure acetic acid, no more ions will be formed and no more conductivity will be attained.
To summarize:
1. When you test the solutions for conductivity, the dilute solution of copper sulfate will show a higher conductivity due to the presence of Cu(II) ions and sulfate ions, which are formed when the solid CuSO4 dissolves in water. On the other hand, the dilute solution of acetic acid will exhibit a lower conductivity because it is a weak electrolyte and only partially ionizes in water to form acetate ions (CH3COO-) and hydronium ions (H3O+).
2. If you add more copper sulfate to the solution, it will increase the concentration of Cu(II) and sulfate ions, leading to an increase in conductivity. However, adding more acetic acid to the solution will only slightly increase the conductivity due to the limited extent of ionization of acetic acid. The conductivity of acetic acid will not increase significantly even if you keep adding more.
3. Continuing to add copper sulfate and acetic acid until the solutions hold as much solute as possible will lead to the saturation point. In the dilute copper sulfate solution, the addition of more copper sulfate will result in an increase in conductivity until the solution becomes saturated and can no longer dissolve any more solute. At this point, the conductivity will reach its maximum because the solution contains the maximum concentration of Cu(II) and sulfate ions.
In the case of acetic acid, adding more acetic acid will not significantly increase the conductivity beyond a certain point. Eventually, all the water molecules will be used up to ionize the acid, and further addition of acetic acid will not produce more ions. As a result, the conductivity will not increase anymore, even if you continue adding acetic acid.
I hope this explanation helps clarify the concept for you!