Ionic Strength and Activity Coefficients

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

Ion
Ca
Cl
Na
H2PO4

Conc. (M) alpha

0.1
0.6
0.2
0.3
0.005
0.4
0.005
0.4

z
4
1
1
1

zC
0.4
0.2
0.005
0.005

Activity Coefficient
0.290
0.658
0.687
0.687

Ionic Strength
0.305

Notes:
Copyright 2000 Brian M. Tissue, all rights reserved.
activity-coefficients.xls
ver. 12/21/00
Enter the ions and ion concentrations in the gray boxes.
(See the Lookup Table for listed ions.)
Ionic strength is:

where z is charge and C is concentration.

Activity coefficients are calculated from:

where gamma is the activity coefficient and alpha is the hydrated ion radius.
This equation is for aqueous solutions at 25C.

Lookup Table
Ion
Charge
Ag
1
Al
3
Ba
2
Be
2
Br
-1
BrO3
-1
CO3
-2
HCO3
-1
HCOO
-1
C2O4
-2
CH3COO
-1
C6H5COO
-1
Ca
2
Cd
2
Ce
3
Ce
4
Cl
-1
ClO3
-1
ClO4
-1
CN
-1
Co
2
Cr
3
CrO4
-2
Cu
2
F
-1
Fe
2
Fe
3
H
1
Hg
2
Hg2
2
I
-1
IO3
-1
IO4
-1
K
1
La
3
Li
1
Mg
2
Mn
2
MnO4
-1
Na
1
NH4
1
Ni
2
NO2
-1
NO3
-1
OH
-1
Pb
2
PO4
-3
HPO4
-2
H2PO4
-1
Rb
1

alpha (nm)
0.25
0.9
0.5
0.8
0.3
0.35
0.45
carbonate
0.45
bicarbonate
0.3
formate
0.45
oxalate
0.45
acetate
0.6
benzoate
0.6
0.5
0.9
1.1
0.3
0.35
0.35
0.3
0.6
0.9
0.4
0.6
0.35
0.6
0.9
0.9
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.4
0.35
0.3
0.9
0.6
0.8
0.6
0.35
0.4
0.25
0.6
0.3
0.3
0.35
0.45
0.4
0.4
0.4
0.25

From J. Kielland, J. Amer. Chem. Soc . 1937, 59 , 1675.

(As tabulated in many analytical chemistry texts.)
(alpha is the radius of the hydrated ion.)

S
HS
SCN
SO3
HSO3
SO4
Sn
Sn
Sr
Th
Tl
Zn
Zr

-2
-1
-1
-2
-1
-2
2
4
2
4
1
2
4

0.5
0.35
0.35
0.45
0.4
0.4
0.6
1.1
0.5
1.1
0.25
0.6
1.1

. Soc . 1937, 59 , 1675.

chemistry texts.)