Chemistry Lab Research Project: Alex Dudash, Ethan Rihn, Luke Crum

Experiment: Seeing how well electricity conducts through water mixed with other elements by powering
a light bulb and measuring volts through a multimeter

Research:

This experiment involves observing how well electricity conducts through water that is
mixed/bonded with other elements. To measure the extent of how well the electricity conducted then it
shall be used to power a light bulb and will be recorded by a multimeter. There will be an experimental
group that consists of using sodium phosphate, sodium carbonate, and sodium chloride and the control
group will be distilled water. For this experiment is important to know that water itself does not conduct
electricity. However, when water is found on earth it is rarely pure, and there is usually something
dissolved in it. The substances dissolved in the water add ions which will then allow it to conduct
electricity through the process of dissociation. Dissociation is when the positive side of water attracts to
anion of a compound and the negative side of water attracts to the cation of a compound and creates
ions out of the compound. The number of ions in an aqueous solution determine its conductivity the
more ions there are then there is a higher conductivity. Another important detail is to note that all the
experimental group elements contain sodium as a cation. However, sodium by itself mixed with water
has a very explosive reaction but when bonded with another element then it can become an aqueous
compound. It is also important to know that small ions have greater conductivity. So, to have
uncontaminated results there will be the same amount of each substance dissolved in the same amount
of water.

A multimeter will be used for this experiment so it will be important to know how to operate a
multimeter. There are three parts to a multimeter the display shows the results, a knob to change the
measuring unite, and the ports where two probes are plugged in. One of the ports is labeled COM,
meaning common, and the probed plugged into this port is usually connect to the negative charged part
of a circuit. The two other ports are labeled 10A, used when measuring large currents, and mAVΩ,
measures smaller currents. The probes that are plugged in have another end that is either a straight
metal rod or a metal clip.

Question: How well does electricity conduct through aqueous solutions containing the sodium anion?

Hypothesis: If distilled water, sodium phosphate, sodium carbonate, and sodium chloride are tested for
amount of conductivity then sodium chloride will be the most conductive.

Materials:

 Solution 1: Distilled Water

 Solution 2: Sodium Phosphate
 Solution 3: Sodium Carbonate
 Solution 4: Sodium Chloride (table salt)
 Light Bulb
 Multimeter
 Beaker
  Stir Rod
 Weigh boat
 Electronic Balance

Procedure:

1. Gather materials.
2. Pour Solution 1 into the beaker until it around 2 cm from the brim.
3. Place the light bulb fixture into the solution
4. Observe and record the brightness of the light bulb.
5. Remove the light bulb and insert the multimeter into the solution.
6. Record the voltage displayed on the multimeter.
7. Safely dispose of the solution into the sink and rinse out the container thoroughly with water
then repeat Step 2 for each solution then repeat Step 5-7 after each solution is added.

Data:

Name: Light Bulb Brightness: Voltage:

Distilled Water None .0728 volts
Sodium Carbonate Bright 2.03 volts
Sodium Phosphate Dim 1.02 volts
Sodium Chloride Brightest 2.08 volts

Conductivity
2.5
2.03 2.08
2
Conductivity (volts)

1.5
1.02
1

0.5
0.0728
0
Distilled Water Sodium Phosphate Sodium Carbonate Sodium Chloride
Compound

Control:

 Distilled Water

Constants:

 Mass of substance in each solution: 6 grams

 Amount of water: 250ml
 Sodium cation
 Texas Instrument CBL System Multimeter
Analysis:

Overall, the data collected shows the conductivity of each solution through seeing the exact
number of volts that can be conducts through the solution along with how that affects the brightness of
a light bulb. Distilled water showed the expected results since there were very little signs of conductivity
which is due to lack of ions in the substance. Meanwhile the other experimental group solutions did
show signs of conductivity. Sodium Chloride showed the most conductivity compared to all other
solutions since it was able to lite the light bulb the brightest and conduct the most volts. This is
reasonable since conductivity of a substance is due to ions, especially electrolytes, and Sodium Chloride
is a salt which itself is an electrolyte. The next best substance to conduct electricity was Sodium
Carbonate which power the light bulb well but not as bright as Sodium Chloride was able to and that can
also be seen in the difference of volts between the two substances. Which is also reasonable since
conductivity is also depend on the concentration of ions and Sodium Chloride has a higher concentration
of ions in water than Sodium Carbonate does in water. The last solution tested was Sodium Phosphate
which was able to light the light bulb but was only half as bright compared to Sodium Carbonate’s
amount of brightness and this can also be seen in the number of volts where the number of volts of
Sodium Carbonate to Sodium Phosphate is around a 2:1 ratio.

The results found from the collected data were all as expected but there is always the possibility
of an error that could have tainted the results. One error that may have occurred during this
experiment could have been the measurement of each substance may have not been exactly the same.
The electronic balanced used sometimes switched between measurements while we were adding the
substance which could mean that not all solution contained the same amount of substance which could
cause the conductivity to be larger or smaller than the true conductivity of each solution which would
taint the results. This could all be avoided with careful measurement along with a second
remeasurement to prove that there is the correct amount of substance added with any extra or too
little. Examining the data collected, it shows that all the experimental solutions when tested were
conductive enough to power a light bulb with the only outlier being the distilled water, the control
group, which was not conductive enough to power the light bulb. Lastly, the data supports our
hypothesis since Sodium Chloride did prove to be the most conductive out all tested substances.

Conclusion:

In this lab, we dissolved 6 grams of sodium chloride, sodium carbonate, or sodium phosphate
respectively in water and measured their conductivity with both a multimeter and a light bulb test. We
also left one group with pure distilled water as a control and took measurements of that to compare as
a baseline. In general, our results showed that the solution with sodium chloride was the most
conductive, while the distilled water was the least conductive. The hypothesis stated that if distilled
water, sodium phosphate, sodium carbonate, and sodium chloride are tested for amount of conductivity
then sodium chloride will be the most conductive. This claim was supported by our experiment because
sodium chloride's conductivity of 2.08 volts, was greater than each of the other solutions. The sodium
chloride also caused the light bulb to have the greatest amount of brightness, which is another clear
indication that it is the most conductive solution. In conclusion, our hypothesis was supported because
when tested with a multimeter and light bulb, the solution containing sodium chloride was the most
conductive out of the tested solutions.
Works Cited:

“Ions in Water, and Conductivity.” Ions in Water, and Conductivity - LAQUA [Water Quality Analyzer
Website] - HORIBA, www.horiba.com/us/en/application/material-property-
characterization/water-analysis/water-quality-electrochemistry-instrumentation/ph-
knowhow/the-basis-of-conductivity/ions-in-water-and-conductivity/.

“Sodium Properties.” Elemental Matter, http://www.elementalmatter.info/sodium-properties.htm +.

Perlman, Howard, and USGS. “Electrical Conductivity and Water.” Electrical Conductivity, USGS Water
Science School, 2 Dec. 2016, water.usgs.gov/edu/electrical-conductivity.html.

Megan. “Electrolytes, Ionisation And Conductivity.” Everything Maths, Siyavula Technology-Powered

Learning, www.everythingmaths.co.za/read/science/grade-10/reactions-in-aqueous-
solution/18-reactions-in-aqueous-solution-03++.

Seidle, Nathan. “Digital Multimeter - Basic.” Learn at SparkFun Electronics, SparkFun,

learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/how-to-use-a-multimeter/.