DEPARTMENT OF PURE AND APPLIED CHEMISTRY

VSU, Visca, Baybay City, Leyte

Name: Castil, Joyce B. Date Performed: October 15, 2018

Lab. Schedule: MWF 1:00-4:00 pm Date Submitted: October 22, 2018
Group No: 6 Rating:

Experiment No. 10
Solubility and Conductivity

Abstract
This experiment was conducted to examined how temperature affects solubility,
show how the nature of solute and solvent affects solubility and to demonstrate the
difference between electrolytes and nonelectrolytes. To show how temperature affects the
solubility the students used potassium nitrate as a solute and water as the solvent, 6 g/10
mL was the saturated solution. By placing the test tube with a solution into a warm bath at
50 ⁰C, then cools it and placed into a beaker with ice the students have recorded 10 g/10
mL at 50 ⁰C of a supersaturated solution. Through mixing the given solutes and solvents
the students have observed that polar solutes dissolved in polar solvents and non-polar
solutes dissolved in non-polar solvents. Using conductivity apparatus, the students tested
the given substances and classified it to strong electrolyte that lighted up bright light, weak
electrolyte that lighted up dim light and non-electrolyte that was no light.

Introduction
A solution is a homogeneous mixture of two or more substances. The solute is the
substance present in a smaller amount, and the solvent is the substance present in a larger
amount. A solution may be gaseous (such as air), solid (such as an alloy), or liquid
(seawater, for example). The maximum quantity of solute that can dissolve in a certain
quantity of solvent or quantity of solution at a specified temperature or pressure (in the case
of gaseous) is called solubility. There are factors affecting the solubility temperature,
pressure and the nature of the solute and solvent. When a solute like ionic salts dissolve in
a solvent and produces separate ions, the solution conduct electricity. An electrolyte is a
substance that when dissolve in water, results in a solution that conduct electricity.

Results and Discussions

A. Solubility
Table 1. Saturated Solutions
Temperature of distilled water 30 ⁰C
Mass of potassium nitrate 6 g/10 mL
Mass of additional potassium nitrate 4g
Total mass of potassium nitrate 10 g/10 mL at 50 ⁰C

To test the solubility of saturated solution the students heated the water bath with a
hot plate to 50 ⁰C. In a large test tube, the students have placed 10 mL of distilled water
with a 30 ⁰C recorded temperature. Using a glass rod the students stirred the water and
added 2 g solid potassium nitrate. The students keep adding 2 g of potassium nitrate until
no more dissolves. The students have recorded the total amount of potassium nitrate which
was 6 g/10 mL. When a solute (potassium nitrate) dissolved, its individual atoms,
molecules, or ions interact with solvent (water), become solvated, and were able to diffused
independently throughout the solution. The potassium nitrate dissolves in water because of
the nature of the its nature of polarity, the general rule of solubility was “like dissolves
like”. The potassium nitrate and water were both polar, polar solute tends to dissolve in
polar solvent. Also, KNO3 was a highly ionic compound and readily dissolves in water to
give potassium cations and nitrate anions, which were solubilized by water molecules (for
potassium, the partially negatively charged oxygen atoms from the water molecules
stabilized the ion in aqueous solution, whereas for the nitrate anion, the partially positively
charged hydrogen atoms from water stabilized it). The mixed 6 g potassium nitrate and 10
mL water was a saturated solution which means a solution with has the maximum amount
of solute. The students then placed the test tube into the warm water bath keeping the
temperature at 50 ⁰C, the added potassium nitrate again to the solution with stirring in a 2
g portions until no more of it dissolves and have recorded the mass of potassium nitrate
being added which was 4 g. The students slowly heated the solution above 50 ⁰C but not
more 60 ⁰C until all the potassium nitrate were dissolves. One factor affecting the solubility
was the temperature (Figure 1.), the solubility increases as the temperature increases. In an
endothermic process the solubility of potassium nitrate has increased as the temperature
have increased. After that the students have removed the test tube from the water bath using
a test tube holder and placed it in a test tube rack, the students have observed that there was
a formation of crystals occurred as it cools. The students then placed the test tube in a 250
mL beaker filled with ice and have observed again the formation of crystals. The saturated
solution that was prepared at a higher temperature contains now more dissolved solute,
when the solution was cooled, it become supersaturated solution. When it was placed in
the ice it become supercooled that made the super saturated solution unstable.
Consequently, adding a small particle of the solute, a seed crystal, caused the excess solute
to rapidly precipitated or crystallized (Figure 2.).

Figure 1. Effect of Temperature on Solubility

Figure 2. Crystallization of Supersaturated Solution

Table 2. Solutes and Solvents Characteristics
Solvent
Solute
Water Ethanol Acetone Petroleum Ether
NaCl Soluble Soluble Insoluble Insoluble
Sucrose Soluble Soluble Insoluble Insoluble
Naphthalene Insoluble Slightly soluble Soluble Soluble
Iodine Insoluble Insoluble Soluble Soluble

In a clean and dry 4 test tubes the students placed 0.05 g of the following solids:
NaCl, sucrose, naphthalene and iodine then the students added water to each test tube and
shake the mixture. The students observed that the solute NaCl dissolved in the solvent
water, sucrose was soluble in water, naphthalene was in soluble and iodine was insoluble
in water. There were factors affecting the solubility as mentioned above, one of those
factors was the nature of solute and solvent which was its polarity. The general rule of
solubility was “like dissolves like”, polar solute tends to dissolves in polar solvent and non-
polar solvent dissolves polar solute. The intermolecular forces of attraction between the
positively charged solute and negatively charged solvent made it dissolved. NaCl and
sucrose were soluble in water (a polar solvent) because the two substances were both polar
solutes. Naphthalene and iodine were both non-polar that’s why the two substances were
insoluble in water. In another 4 test tubes the students repeat the process but the solvent
this time was ethanol polar solvent that dissolved the polar solutes NaCl and sucrose.
Naphthalene was slightly soluble because it dissolves slightly in polar solvent, iodine was
insoluble because it was a non-polar solute. Next solvent was acetone a non-polar solvent
that dissolves non-polar solutes naphthalene and iodine, NaCl and sucrose were polar
solutes that’s why the two were insoluble in acetone. Petroleum ether was also a non-polar
solvent that’s why the polar solutes NaCl and sucrose were insoluble in it, but the
naphthalene and iodine were soluble because the two substances were non-polar solutes.
 B. Conductivity
Table 3. Conductivity Test
Liquids Classification Observations
Tap water Non-electrolyte No light
Distilled water Non-electrolyte No light
1 M NaCl Strong electrolyte Bright light
0.1 M NaCl Strong electrolyte Bright light
1 M sucrose Non-electrolyte No light
0.1 M sucrose Non-electrolyte No light
1 M HCl Strong electrolyte Bright light
0.1 M HCl Strong electrolyte Bright light
1 M Acetic acid Strong electrolyte Bright light
0.1 M Acetic acid Weak electrolyte Dim light

Using a conductivity apparatus, the students tested the conductivity of the liquids
in the table above. The conductance of an electrolyte depends upon the number of ions
present in the solution. Therefore, the greater the number of ions in the solution the greater
the conductance. The number of ions produced by an electrolyte depends upon its nature.
Those liquids that were classified to be a strong electrolyte acid dissociate almost
completely into ions in solutions and, therefore, the solutions have high conductance that
can light up bulb with a bright light. On the other hand, those liquid that were classified to
be weak electrolyte, dissociate to only small extents and give lesser number of ions.
Therefore, the solutions of weak electrolytes have low conductance that can light up bulb
but with a dim light. Non-electrolyte did not form ions at all and did not conduct electricity
in the solutions. Usually tap water conducts electricity but in the students experiment the
tap water was non-electrolyte just like distilled water because it was pure H20 that don’t
have various water treatments, chemicals, salts and minerals which causes the conductance.
1 M and 0.1 M NaCl, 1 M and 0.1 M HCl and 1M Acetic acid were strong electrolyte
because those substance were completely dissolved and dissociate its cations and anions
that causes the conductance of electricity. 0.1 M Acetic acid was weak electrolyte because
it just dissolved and dissociate partially unlike strong electrolytes that were completely that
causes to lighted up bright light.

Conclusion

At the end of the experiment the students have showed how temperature affects
solubility and have showed how the nature of solute and solvent affects the solubility of a
substance. Furthermore, the students were able to demonstrate the difference between
electrolytes and nonelectrolytes.

Post-Laboratory Question
1. A solute and a solvent are mixed together. What requirement would enable you to
predict that two substances would form a homogeneous solution?
 To acquire a homogeneous solution the solute and solvent must be both
polar or non-polar to be dissolve and soluble, because the general rule of
solubility was “like dissolves like”.
2. Will a solid-solid solution be homogeneous or heterogeneous? How about the
liquid-liquid and gas-gas solution? Explain.
 Solid-solid solution can be homogeneous or heterogeneous solution, it
depends upon its composition and color. Just like mixing iodized salt and
white sugar the two substance were both solid, the result of mixing it will
be a homogeneous solution. It can also be heterogeneous solution when the
two have different composition and color, for example mixing gravel and
salt will result heterogeneous solution because it has two phase. Also,
liquid-liquid can be either homogeneous and heterogeneous, it depends
again to its composition and color. Mixing acetone and water will result to
homogeneous solution, while mixing oil and water will form heterogeneous
solution. Gas-gas solution will only result to homogeneous solution because
it cannot be seen by our naked eye, air is not visible.
3. Write formulas for the electrolytes used in this experiment. What ions are formed
in solution?
 NaCl(aq) H→
2O
Na+(s) + Cl-(l)
  HCl(aq) H→
2O
H+(aq) + Cl-(l)
 CH3COOH(aq) H→
2O
CH3COOH-(aq) + H+(aq)

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