Keenan Enrilsen Lab 13: Bonding and conductivity Date- 17/3/21

Aim: To find if sodium hydroxide, sucrose, ethanol, water, kerosene, sodium chloride
are electrically conductive.

Equipment and Procedure- See page: 36 STAWA Lab 13

Results/Observations:
Substance Conductivity (amps)
Kerosene -
Sucrose -
Ethanol -
NaCl Yes – 0.19
Distilled Water -
NaOH Yes- 0.2
HCl Yes – 0.5

Question:
1. Which of the pure substances tested in parts A and B conducted an electric
current? What can you say about the nature of the bonding present in these
substances? List the species, which were the charge carriers in each case.
Only NaCl, NaOH and HCl conducted electricity. NaCl and NaOH are both ionic
compounds so when dissolved in water, they disassociate into their individual
ions. A hydration shell wraps around them to prevent contact with each other,
which would lead to the reformation of solid. HCl is an example of a polar
substance as it has dipole charges, Cl has a higher electronegativity than H.
2 List the pure substances tested in the experiment that did not conduct an
electric current. What can you say about the type of bonding present in these
substances? What species are present in each case?
Kerosene, sucrose, ethanol, and distilled water did not conduct electricity. All
of these substances are covalent molecular bonds. They are polar substances
as they all have the same amount of polarity and the same dipole forces
meaning that one side of the atom is not pulled more strongly than the other.
3. In the solid state, both NaCl and NaOH are ionic lattices. What happens to
these substances when they dissolve in water?
When these substances dissolve in water, their ions dissociate, and are
individually covered in a hydration shell which prevents the ions making
contact with each other and reforming a solid.

4. Pure HCl is a covalent molecule. What happens to each HCl molecule when it
is dissolved in water?
 Keenan Enrilsen Lab 13: Bonding and conductivity Date- 17/3/21

Pure HCl is a covalent molecule since does not contain metal ions. Since HCl
is a polar substance, it means that the H does not have the same attraction as
the Cl due to difference in electronegativities, as a result, when they dissolve
in water, H forms a + ion and Cl forms a – ion. Since there is a charge and
mobility due to being dissolved in water, they can now conduct electricity.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, we were able to conduct this experiment safely, as we were able
to find if sodium hydroxide, sucrose, ethanol, water, kerosene, sodium
chloride is electrically conductive. We found that the only substances that
conducted electricity were NaCl, NaOH, and HCl.

Evaluation:
Our group worked well and safely together, we knew the preliminary
precautions to take when working with flammable substances such as
kerosene, and acids, such as hydrochloric acid. Our group stayed together
during the experiments so that everyone was able to observe the conductivity
readings of each substance. A possible source of error could be not cleaning
and drying the beaker sufficiently between substances, which would affect the
conductivity readings of the tested substances.