102 PROPERTIES OF ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTING SYSTEMS 



According to Schlesinger, solutions of the formates in formic acid 

 present an anomaly in that, while they are highly ionized, differing but 

 little in this respect from aqueous solutions, the simple law of mass-action 

 is obeyed up to concentrations as high as 0.3 normal. If this interpreta- 

 tion is correct, it will be necessary to revise all commonly accepted notions 

 relative to the causes underlying the deviations from the simple mass- 

 action law, since in these solutions we would have a case in which the 

 law of mass-action is obeyed up to high concentration for solutions of 

 strong electrolytes. We may, therefore, examine the results obtained 



Specific Conductance of Sodium Acetate in Water. 



10. 20. 30. 40. SO 60. 70 



.029 



0. S. 10. 15. ZO. S. 30. 35. 



Specific Conductance of Sodium Formate in Formic Acid. 

 FIG. 15. Comparison of Conductance Curves in Formic Acid and in Water. 



in formic acid with some care in order to determine whether or not solu- 

 tions in this solvent may be brought into line with solutions in other 

 solvents. 



It is at once apparent that measurements with solutions in formic 

 acid may lead to difficulties of interpretation, owing to the fact that the 

 conductance of the pure solvent is very high. It is not possible to 

 carry the measurements to very low concentrations ; and if such measure- 

 ments are carried out, the results will always be more or less in doubt. 

 In Figure 15, the upper curve represents a plot of I/A against the 

 specific conductance for solutions of sodium formate in formic acid, 

 according to Schlesinger. It will be observed that, between a concen- 

 tration of C = 0.0667 and C = 0.297, the points lie upon a straight line 

 within the limits of experimental error. At lower concentrations the 

 curve deviates from a straight line, being concave toward the axis of 



