Question

1. when determining charges in sodium chloride and ethane, why were you able to utilize a water molecule to help you figure this out? what does this tell you about waters ability to dissolve either of these substances?

Explanation:

Water is a polar molecule. Sodium chloride (\(NaCl\)) is an ionic compound. The positive end of the water molecule (\(H\) side) is attracted to the negative \(Cl^-\) ion, and the negative end (\(O\) side) is attracted to the positive \(Na^+\) ion. This helps in figuring out the charges in \(NaCl\). For ethane (\(C_2H_6\)), it is non - polar. Since water is polar and “like dissolves like” (polar solvents dissolve polar or ionic substances better than non - polar ones), water can dissolve \(NaCl\) (because of the ion - dipole interactions) but not ethane (since there are no significant attractive forces between polar water and non - polar ethane).

Answer:

Water is polar. For \(NaCl\), its ions interact with water's polar ends (helping determine charges). Water dissolves \(NaCl\) (due to ion - dipole forces) but not ethane (non - polar, no strong interactions with polar water).