Electrolytes & Electrolytic dissociation Flashcards
What is an electrolyte?
Substances that have a positive or negative electrical charge when dissolved in water.
What is the name of a substance that dissolves in water, but does not conduct any electricity?
Nonelectrolytes
What is electrolytic dissociation?
The separation of a substance into two ions, positive and negative, when dissolved in water, in order to generate an electric current.
What are the three conditions necessary for electrolytic dissociation?
- Has to be aqueous (dissolved in water)
- Must contain negative & positive ions
- Mobile
What are the three types of electrolytes?
- Acids
- Bases
- Salts
How can we identify if a substance is an acid?
- Their chemical formulas always contain Hydrogen (H) and a nonmetal.
- Litmus paper = stays/turns red
- pH of 0-6
How come acids are electrolytes?
Acids are electrolytes because when dissolved in water, they release hydrogen ions (positive) as well as negative ions from a nonmetal.
How can we identify if a substance is a base?
- Their chemical formula always contains a metal and OH
- Litmus paper = stays/turns blue
- pH of 8-14
How come bases are electrolytes?
When dissolved in water, they release OH ions (negative) as well as positives ions from a metal.
How can we identify if a substance is a salt?
- Their chemical formula is always a metal and a nonmetal
- Blue litmus = blue
- Red litmus = red
- has a neutral pH (7)
How come salts are electrolytes?
When dissolved in water, salts release positive ions from the metal, and negative ions from the nonmetal.
