CHAPTER III 



The Dissociation of Strong Electrolytes 

 summary of contents 



The strong electrolytes appear to deviate from the law of mass action 

 as regards their dissociation equilibria. But this appears only because 

 of an erroenous interpretation formerly given to conductivity measure- 

 ments. The way in which the state of dissociation of strong electrolytes 

 was calculated from these measurements can no longer withstand the 

 criticism of our day. The clarification and correction of these earlier 

 inaccuracies yielded the theory of activity. This theory is presented in 

 a simple form in accord with the points of view developed in the litera- 

 ture, and which is also quite sufficient for the working purposes of the 

 physiologist. The strong electrolytes are practically always completely 

 dissociated, and, furthermore, if weak electrolytes be present along with 

 them in solution, they appear to raise the dissociation constants of these 

 weak electrolytes. In physiological processes it is not the absolute 

 dissociation constants of weak electrolytes (such as CO2) but the constants 

 reduced to the physiological salt co7itent that are of significance. 



30. The deviations from the law of mass action and their 



significance 



Hitherto all of our considerations were based on the assumption 

 that the "strong" electrolytes are always completely dissociated 

 in solution and that they have no other influence on the ionic equilib- 

 rium apart from that defined by the mass law. These assumptions 

 are particularly valid for very dilute solutions of the strong elec- 

 trolytes. It is now our purpose to introduce certain corrections 

 requisite for the higher concentrations. The great interest of this 

 problem lies not only in the insignificant corrections of our earlier 

 calculations, but also in the theoretic elucidation of the character 

 of these deviations. These enigmatic deviations from the otherwise 

 well accepted laws of physical chemistry are being gradually cleared 



110 



