Ask AI: What happens during conductometric titration of hydrochloric acid with sodium hydroxide

Conductometric titration of hydrochloric acid (HCl) with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) is a process to determine the concentration of the acid or base in a solution by measuring the conductivity of the solution. Here are the steps: 1. First, a solution of hydrochloric acid is prepared. The acid releases hydrogen ions (H+) that increase the conductivity of the solution. 2. Sodium hydroxide, a strong base, is then slowly added to the acid solution. Sodium hydroxide dissociates into sodium ions (Na+) and hydroxide ions (OH-). 3. As the base is added, it reacts with the hydrogen ions from the acid to form water. Each reaction of a hydrogen ion with a hydroxide ion decreases the total number of ions in the solution, reducing the solution's conductivity. 4. Conductivity is continually measured and recorded during the titration. 5. The point at which the conductivity stops decreasing and starts increasing is called the equivalence point (or endpoint). At the equivalence point, all the hydrogen ions have reacted with the hydroxide ions to produce water, and any additional sodium hydroxide added will only increase the number of ions (and hence conductivity) in the solution. 6. By knowing the volume of sodium hydroxide solution needed to reach the equivalence point and its concentration, one can calculate the concentration of the hydrochloric acid. Thus, conductometric titration allows us to find the unknown concentration of an acid or a base by monitoring changes in conductivity.