Question

Write in your own words what happens to the particles when salt is dissolved in water?

Answer 1

Hint: When salt is dissolved in water it decomposes into constituent ions and a new substance is formed .The covalent bonds of water are stronger than the ionic bonds in common salt molecules. Water molecules break the ionic bond that holds them together.


Complete solution:
We know that both salt and water are made up of tiny particles that are invisible when seen by the microscope .Also particles of matter have spaces between them. When salt is dissolved in water the tiny particles occupy the spaces between the water particles and when it is mixed it gives a salty taste to water. When we mix salt with water there is no increase in the volume of water as the salt particles take up the intermolecular spaces in water. It gets diffused into water.
Water can dissolve salt because the positive part of the water molecules attracts the negative chloride ions and negative part of water molecules attracts the positive sodium ions. As water is a polar solvent and dissolves like so salt dissolves in water and there is no increase in volume.


Additional information: For the covalent compounds ,when it is dissolved in water there is no chemical change like sugars .There is no change in the chemical identity.


Note:The dissolving of salt in water is a chemical change as new constituent ions are formed from the salt compound. It is a permanent change. There is change in both the physical and chemical properties of the compound.