What happens to the conductivity of water when an acid is dissolved in it? Also, what happens to the conductivity of water when a base is dissolved in it?

1 Answer
May 10, 2018

Would not the conductivity of the solution INCREASE...?

Explanation:

We take a generic acid....and to some extent it undergoes protonolysis with water....and when we do this reaction we always add acid to water, and never the reverse....why so?

#HX(g) +H_2O(l) rightleftharpoons H_3O^+ + X^-#

For the LOWER hydrogen halides, this equilibrium lies strongly to the RIGHT as we face the page. But even were we to consider the weak acid, #HF#, INCREASED concentrations of #H_3O^+# and #X^-# would INCREASE the conductivity of the solution. I will look for a metric to establish this....