ASC

EXPERIMENT 3
ABSORPTION OF NON-ELECTROLYTE SOLUTE FROM SURFACE TENSION
CHANGE

THIKAMENI MUNENGUNI
221057269
Aim
The aim of this experiment is to explore the absorption behavior of non-electrolyte solutes by
observing changes in surface tension. By measuring the surface tension of solutions with varying
concentrations of the non-electrolyte solute.
Introduction
The absorption of solutes, particularly non-electrolytes, into liquids plays a pivotal role in various
natural and industrial processes. One fundamental property that reflects the interaction between
solutes and solvents is surface tension. Surface tension, defined as the energy required to increase
the surface area of a liquid per unit area, serves as a sensitive indicator of molecular interactions at
the liquid-air interface. When solutes are introduced into a solvent, they can alter the surface tension
due to changes in intermolecular forces at the surface. The thermodynamic considerations show that
in these cases the solute is negatively adsorbed at the surface, and from the application of the Gibbs
equation it is found that the surface excess corresponds to a layer of pure water of the of the order of
one molecule thick. Heydweiller attempted to explain this negative absorption of the solute in terms
of the electrostatic attraction between the ions, and later Wagner was able to calculate by a rather
complicated method the negative adsorption and the surface tensions of the dilute solutions from
considerations of the mirror image forces at the phase interface. This theory has been extended and
simplified by the relation. In this experiment we aim to investigate the absorption of non-electrolyte
solutes and its impact on surface tension. By measuring the surface tension of a solvent before and
after the addition of solute at various concentrations.

Results and data

Table 1 Data recoreded
Initial volume Surface tension
0 70.4
1 68.7
2 67.4
3 65.5
4 64.1
5 59.2
6 57.8
7 55.9
8 55.5
9 54.8
10 54.1
11 56.3
12 55.5
15 50.7
20 47.7

Table 2 Calculated data

Concentration Concentration Calculated Slope Slope for
in mol/m^3 surface For calculated
Tension mesured
0 0 0 70.4 -0.2094 -0.3525
1 0.01 10 66.88214348 -0.1994 -0.3365
2 0.02 20 63.94124171 -0.1894 -0.3205
3 0.03 30 60.60375459 -0.1794 -0.3045
4 0.04 40 57.88746652 -0.1694 -0.2885
5 0.05 50 52.21738074 -0.1594 -0.2725
6 0.06 60 49.82628094 -0.1494 -0.2565
7 0.07 70 47.12220057 -0.1394 -0.2405
8 0.08 80 45.77351144 -0.1294 -0.2245
9 0.09 90 44.23995846 -0.1194 -0.2085
10 0.1 100 42.76937684 -0.1094 -0.1925
11 0.11 110 43.6032804 -0.0994 -0.1765
12 0.12 120 42.12491444 -0.0894 -0.1605
15 0.15 150 36.29154956 -0.0594 -0.1125
20 0.2 200 31.12939574 -0.0094 -0.0325

Table 3 calculated data

┌B measured ┌B calculated CB/┌B measured CB/┌B Calculated
0 0 0 0
0.00080482 0.001358185 12425.13541 7362.769688
0.001528916 0.00258721 13081.16156 7730.333853
0.002172288 0.003687078 13810.3233 8136.525452
0.002734936 0.004657786 14625.57261 8587.771231
0.003216859 0.005499336 15543.11167 9092.007339
0.003618058 0.006211727 16583.48059 9659.150097
0.003938533 0.006794959 17773.11334 10301.75468
0.004178284 0.007249033 19146.61515 11035.95546
0.004337311 0.007573947 20750.18425 11882.83933
0.004415613 0.007769704 22646.91042 12870.5039
0.004413192 0.007836301 24925.27163 14037.23513
0.004330046 0.00777374 27713.33333 15436.58567
0.003596263 0.006811104 41709.96633 22022.86222
0.000758807 0.002623536 263571.4894 76232.98462

Figure 1 Surface tension agaist concentration

Figure 2 excess concetration against concetration

Figure 3 C/excess conetration against contration

Calculations

C1V1=C2V2
(1)(1) = 100C 2
C 2 = 0.01(1000)
= 10mol/m -3

Calculated Surface tension

= ɣA-bɣAIn(1+Cb/β)
= 70.4 –(0.41)(70.4) ln(1+0/150)
= 70.40mN/m

Surface tension measured

y = 0.0005x2-0.2094x+70.361
Dy/dx=0.001x-0.2094
Slope=0.001(10)-0.2094
=-0.1994

Surface tension calculated

y= 0.0008x 2 - 0.3525x+69.847
=0.0016x-0.3525

Slope=0.0016(10)-0.3525
=-0.3365

�
┌B= -��� × �����
10
=− 8.314×298 ×− 0.2094
=0.000802182

Discussion
The objective of this experiment was to investigate the absorption of non-electrolyte solutes and
its effect on surface tension. Through the experimental procedure, we obtained data regarding the
change in surface tension with varying concentrations of the solute, as well as the corresponding
graphs to analyze these changes.The slope of the graph represents the rate of change of surface
tension concerning the concentration of the solute. In our experiment, the negative slope values
indicate that an increase in solute concentration correlates with a decrease in surface tension. This
observation aligns with the principles of surface chemistry, where the presence of solute molecules
at the interface disrupts the cohesive forces between solvent molecules, leading to a reduction in
surface tension
Furthermore, the calculated surface tension values provide quantitative data regarding the extent
of surface tension reduction with increasing solute concentration. By comparing these values
across different concentrations, we can infer the effectiveness of the solute in lowering surface
tension. In our experiment, we observed a significant decrease in surface tension as the
concentration of the solute increased, suggesting a strong interaction between the solute
molecules and the solvent at the interface.
References
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Postdam, U. o. (2023, AUGUST 7). Conductometry. Retrieved from MICELLE FORMATION:

https://www.chem.uni-potsdam.de/groups/kolloid/3_lehre/mops/e06_con.pdf

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