Question

Does pure water conduct electricity? If not, what can we do to make it conduct?

Answer 1

Hint:Any impurities like salts, in the water enable it to conduct electricity. When salts are dissolved in the water, they separate into different electrically charged atoms called ions. Pure water does not have free electrons or else we can say very very few.

Complete step-by-step answer:
Pure water or distilled water does not conduct electricity because pure water or distilled water can not contain any salts in it.
If we want that the pure water or distilled water makes it conducting, then we add a pinch of common salt since salt solutions are good conductors of electricity.
Pure water or distilled water does not contain ions because of diluting pure water with acid or a base or a salt, because they produce ions due to the dilution. But tap water contains many dissolved salts which produce ions in the solution. That is why tap water is conducting whereas distilled water is not.
Any impurities, like salts, in the water enable it to conduct electricity. When salts are dissolved in water, they separate into different electrically charged atoms called ions. Salts, or sodium chloride (NaCl), breaks up into positive Na ions and negative Cl ions.
If you place a battery with a negative pole into water, the negative ions will be attracted to the positive pole and the positive ions will be attracted to the negative pole thus creating a closed circuit.

Note:A solution conducts current when positive and negative ions are randomly dissolved in it. Pure water doesn’t have enough ions but when you add HCl you add a strong electrolyte. So, after the addition, the solution can conduct electricity very well.