GORDON. — DISSOCIATION OF FUSED SALTS. 



67 



found for the transference number of NOg iu AgNOg, 0,470 at 20°, and 

 0.490 at 90°. 



Dissociation. — In view of the agreement with the formula in case of 

 dilute solutions, the cousideralion of the cells containing the more con- 

 centrated solution becomes of greatest interest. It seems probable that 

 the deviations from the calculated values are here due entirely to in- 

 complete dissociation. "We thus have a means of calculating the degree 

 of dissociation for the 50% AgNOg solution, and for the pure salt. The 

 results of this reckoning are given in Table III. 



TABLE III. 



Dissociation of Silver Nitrate. 



Temperature 2'ZQ°. Dissociation 0.1% sol. assumed complete. 



This is, so far as I know, the first determination of the degree of dis- 

 sociation of a fused salt. To say that pure fused silver nitrate is 58% 

 dissociated seems at first thought somewhat incredible ; especially when 

 we think of the almost infinitesimal dissociation of water and other 

 liquids at ordinary temperatures. These are not the only measurements, 

 however, that go to show that the degree of dissociation is large. Their 

 large conductivities, and the small range of the same when different 

 salts are considered, are in favor of it. The careful measurements of 

 Poincare * on the conductivity of fused salt mixtures show a behavior 

 very different from that of electrolytic solutions at ordinary temperatures. 

 In the latter case the conductivity is generally greatly changed, or first 

 made possible, by the mixing, while for fused salts the conductivity is 

 almost an additive property of the separate salts. The large amount of 

 dissociation gives at least a qualitative explanation of this apparently 

 anomalous behavior. 



* Loc. cit. 



