Chapter 18, Problem 18TE

The charges with sodium chloride are all balanced - for every positive sodium ion there is a corresponding negative chloride ion. Since its charges are balanced, how can sodium chloride be attracted to water, and vice versa?

To determine

sodium chloride be attracted to water, and vice versa. When the charges with sodium chloride are all balanced - for every positive sodium ion there is a corresponding negative chloride ion.

Answer to Problem 18TE

The water is attracted to an individual ion of sodium chloride by ion-dipole forces.

Explanation of Solution

The water molecule gets considered as polar molecule containing two hydrogen-oxygen bonds and thus can exhibit a dipole nature in a molecule.

The sodium chloride is basically an ionic compound produced from individual sodium and chloride ions through electrostatic force of attraction. Thus, sodium chloride functions as polar molecule too.

As a water molecule comes closer to the sodium chloride molecule, it gets dissociated into various ions like sodium ion as well as chloride ion. Here the intermolecular force of attraction will exist between the polar molecule and the positively as well as negatively charged ions. The water molecule and these individual ions are attracted to each other through ion-dipole forces.

Conclusion:

Therefore the water is attracted to an individual ion of sodium chloride by ion-dipole forces.