When sodium chloride, #NaCl#, is dissolved in water, the sodium and chloride ions move apart from one another. Why doesn't the sodium then react explosively with the water, like solid sodium metal does?
2 Answers
It is an interesting question. Dissolved single
Explanation:
While it's true that when a crystal of the ionic substance sodium chloride is dissolved in water the sodium and chloride ions separate from one another, they do not separate to form lumps of sodium metal or to form chlorine gas.
Rather, they remain as single
Ions of a substance do not have the same properties as larger quantities of the substance, which are differently bonded together.
This is an interesting discussion, since solid sodium chloride contains ionic bonds, solid sodium metal contains metallic bonding and chlorine gas contains covalent bonds.
Yes, only when in their pure forms, not when dissolved
Explanation:
When a substance, such as sodium chloride (a.k.a NaCl, table salt) is dissolved, it breaks up into ions,
The confusion here is that you assume that sodium metal,