CHM171L Physical Chemistry 2 Laboratory

4th Quarter AY 2015-2016

Transference Number
Ricky Jay C. Gomez1
1Students, Mapúa Institute of Technology, School of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry

ABSTRACT

Transference number also called as ion transport number is the fraction of the total current carried in an
electrolyte by a given ion. Given a transference number set-up, we used three different solvents that are
commonly used on performing electrolysis. Putting nitric acid in the U-tube with hanging electrodes, this
will serve as the solution that will perform electrolysis inside the system. Next, weigh the cathode and
anode copper wires respectively and immersed them on H2SO4/CuSO4 solution at the outside system,
then check the change in weight afterwards of the copper wires. While doing so, the coulometer was
connected in a multirange meter with a universal power supply which mainly will supply electricity for
about 60-90 minutes. Afterwards, checking the concentration of the nitric acid by titrating it with NaOH
and a methyl red indicator helped us monitor the concentration level of the nitric acid. Gathering the data,
we determined the transport number of hydrogen and nitrate ions within their ionic size and mobility.
Keywords: Transference Number, nitric acid, ionic size, mobility.

INTRODUCTION Ionic mobility is calculated using the equation

from the ratio of the product of electrolytic
Transference number (also called as transport conductivity, distance and area to the product of
number or migration number) is the fraction of the current and time.
the current carried by each ion in the solution.
Difference in the transference number in each ion 𝑢+/− =
𝑥𝐾𝐴
(3)
𝐼𝑡
is due to its mobility. The sum of the transference
number of each ion in the solution is equal to The ratio of the electrolytic conductivity to the
unity. Substances that conduct electricity, molar concentration of the solution gives its
specifically electrolytes have transference molar conductivity. The limiting conductivity,
number. Due to the migration of ions, the solution which is the conductivity of the limiting ion is
is susceptible to the flow of electricity which is calculated using the product of mobility, valence
conducted by the ions. Transference number can and the Faraday’s constant.
be a function of ionic mobility, moles of migrated
ions or conductivities. k
 (4)
C
 
t  t  (1)
      𝛌𝑜 = 𝑢𝑧𝐹 (5)

 0  0 As the mobility of the ion increases, the

t  t  (2) conductance also increases because more ions
o o
can migrate within the solution as it allows the
electricity flow.

EXPERIMENT 03 | GROUP 05 | MAY 31, 2016 1

MATERIALS AND METHOD
The materials and equipment used in this
experiment were analytical balance, burette,
beaker, pipet, evaporating dish and Phywe
Transference Number Apparatus. The reagents
used were Methyl red, 0.1 M Nitric Acid, 0.5 M
copper sulfate- sulfuric acid mixture, 0.1 M
sodium hydroxide, acetone and distilled water.
A water filled beaker was set up below the U-tube
for temperature controlling. 0.1 M HNO3 was
poured into the U- tube until the liquid reached
the marking, where three legs have the same level
of electrolytes. The U- tube was lowered until the
marking was submerged in the bath fluid.
Subsequently, the cathode and anode of the
coulometer were weighed and immersed in a 250
mL beaker filled with H2SO4/ 0.5 M CuSO4
solutions. The coulometer, transference vessel
and multirange meter series were connected to
the universal power supply. Electrolysis was
performed for 1 hour under 50 mA. Then, 5 mL
sample of the anode and cathode regions on the
transference vessel were taken for titration using
methyl red as an indicator. Record the entire
length of electrolysis period. Before weighing the
two copper electrodes, both were washed using
water and acetone and were dried in air. The
marked volume of the cathode and anode regions
was determined by filling them with water. The
necessary data were finally recorded.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
The migrated ions in the copper electrodes are
being observed from the differences in the initial
weight to the final weight of each electrode.
W1 W2
Left 1604 1583
Right 1587 1593
TABLE 1: Weight of Copper Plates (mg).
From these data, the left copper plate lost some of
its original weight, while the right copper plate
gained some weight after the electrolysis.
Volume of the W Tube in left and right tubes are
measured after the experimentation, that are
correlated with the amount of nitric acid
EXPERIMENT 03 | GROUP 05 | MAY 31, 2016
neutralized by the NaOH which is determined by
titration.
Volume W Tube
Left 20.3
Right 20.3
TABLE 2.1: Volume W Tube (mL).
Volume NaOH
Left 6.5
Right 11.3
Original 5
TABLE 2.2: Volume NaOH (mL).
From the data above, same volume of the left and
right tubes was measured. The volume of NaOH
used for neutralizing a 5-mL aliquot of nitric acid
for the original solution is the same compared to
the volume of aliquot titrated. The volume of the
NaOH used for titrating sample from right tube
increased with little increment with respect to the
original solution, while for the left tube, the
volume increased largely. More amount of the
substance in the left tube was neutralized by
NaOH compared to the amount of substance on
the right tube, that is why more volume of NaOH
was needed for the left tube to undergo complete
neutralization.
The transference number for the nitric ion and
hydrogen ion was manually calculated by getting
the ratio of the moles of electron in the formation
of Cu, to the moles of the nitric ion neutralized
from 0.1 M solution of nitric acid. Same formula
was used for computing for the transference
number of the hydrogen ion. This transference
number also signifies the fraction of the current
carried from the migration of each ion. Hydrogen
has higher fraction of current that has been
carried during the electrolysis.
CONCLUSION
In the experiment, it was proved that
smaller ionic size possesses greater transference
number among other ions present in an n-
component system. The results showed that the
transport numbers for the components involved
are equal to 1. Ions, which have greater transport
number, are relatively more mobile as compared
to the other components for they carry out a
2
greater fraction of current than the rest of the
components.
Errors were observed in the experiment.
In order to reduce such occurrence of errors, it is
recommended that the reagents used should be
not reused since this may be the cause for
inaccurate results, especially for the titration.
NaOH, which was used in titrating nitric acid,
must be standardized properly since it is one of
the essential components in determining the
transport numbers for the specific ions.

REFERENCES

[1] Atkins. (n.d.). Physical Chemsitry. Oxford

University.

[2] Levine. (2009). Physical Chemistry. New York:

McGraw Hill.

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