Question

The conductivity of an electrolytic solution decreases on dilution due to the?

Answer 1

Conductivity:

• The conductivity of an electrolyte solution is known as a measure of its ability to conduct electricity.
• The SI unit of conductivity is given as Siemens per meter.
• However, the molar conductivity can be defined as the conducting power of all the ions produced due to the dissolution of one mole of an electrolyte in a solution.

The decrease of the conductivity on dilution:

• The conductivity basically changes with the change in the concentration of the given electrolyte.
• During dilution, generally, the number of ions present per unit volume carrying the current tends to decrease, which results in a decrease in the conductivity of the electrolytic solution.
• Whereas, the molar conductivity of a given solution tends to increase with the increase in dilution.

Hence, the conductivity of an electrolytic solution decreases on dilution due to the decrease in the number of ions per unit volume.