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30 votes
3 answers
30k views

Why do salts such as NaCl dissolve?

If we look at solubility of salts in water, we are told that they disassociate, because the positive $\ce{Na}$ ion is attracted to the partially negative oxygen in water and the negative $\ce{Cl}$ is ...
Gerard's user avatar
  • 3,479
28 votes
5 answers
17k views

Why is water "the universal" solvent?

This is an old question that our textbook tried to answer but worsened the situation. Many things are soluble in water. So many, that studying solutions will always require studying aqueous ones. It ...
M.A.R.'s user avatar
  • 10.7k
24 votes
4 answers
18k views

Can other substances be dissolved in a saturated solution?

If I have a liter of water fully saturated with sucrose would it be possible to dissolve something like salt or any other substance in the water? Or when the solution is saturated, is it impossible to ...
Samantha Clark's user avatar
19 votes
3 answers
60k views

Why there is no change in water level when salt is added?

Let us say we have one glass of water and after that when we add one or two spoon of salt then we notice that salt dissolves in it but when we measure the water level we found that there is no ...
Shashank's user avatar
  • 1,491
13 votes
2 answers
10k views

Should bromine water be called a solution?

Bromine water is a reagent which is used to test for unsaturation in organic compound. It is $2.8~\%$ bromine in water. In many places, it is refer to as bromine solution. But it is observed that ...
Nilay Ghosh's user avatar
  • 26.3k
13 votes
2 answers
746 views

Do azeotropic mixtures evaporate proportionally?

Do azeotropes evaporate, without boiling, in proportionate amounts, or does this property describe their behaviour only at boiling point? Concretely, if 91% isopropyl alcohol/water (by volume, i.e. an ...
OJFord's user avatar
  • 241
12 votes
3 answers
38k views

Differentiation between zinc, aluminium, and magnesium ions in solution

If I have three aqueous ionic solutions in which I know that the cation is $\ce{Al^3+}$, $\ce{Mg^2+}$, or $\ce{Zn^2+}$, how do I find out which is which? I was thinking to add $\ce{OH-}$ in the form ...
dma1324's user avatar
  • 223
11 votes
1 answer
20k views

Why do some substances ionize instead of dissolving in water?

My question can also be understood as what make something electrolyte or nonelectrolyte? I think this question stems mainly from my confusion with the definitions of ionizing and dissolving. ...
most venerable sir's user avatar
10 votes
4 answers
2k views

Ionic compound having highest solubility in water

Which ionic compound has highest solubility in water? I can find CsBr having highest solubility with 1230 g/L at 25 °C. Note: compounds like ethanol are soluble to any extent in water, but they are ...
Harsh jain's user avatar
  • 1,693
10 votes
2 answers
8k views

Are all solutions of weak acid/bases buffers?

I am having a difficult time understanding what makes a buffer a buffer. Buffers in my textbook are defined as a solution of a weak acid or base and their conjugate acid/base. So if I were to just ...
Blakeasd's user avatar
  • 349
10 votes
2 answers
3k views

Solubility of gold salt solution?

I was wondering what salts of gold are soluble and which are insoluble. From what I understand, silver is soluble as silver nitrate but insoluble as most other common salts like chlorides and ...
Meep's user avatar
  • 1,697
9 votes
3 answers
3k views

Why is there a decrease in the total volume when NaOH dissolves in water?

When a solute is added to a solvent, the volume of the solution should be equal to the sum of the individual volume of the solute and solvent (i.e total volume), right? But why is there a decrease in ...
Yitian Chen's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
3k views

Vapor pressure of immiscible liquids

I have read that vapour pressure of a mixture of two immiscible liquids is $$P=P^0_A + P^0_B$$ where A and B are immiscible liquids. If they are immiscible, they would form separate layers. Thus ...
ABC123's user avatar
  • 153
9 votes
2 answers
6k views

'Emulating' calcium hydroxide

I posed this question at the Seasoned Advice SE and thought I might get some more information here. Traditionally prepared corn is cooked in a calcium hydroxide solution to make it more digestible, ...
Franklin P Combs's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
4k views

Why does Dead Sea water feel greasy?

The best explanation I found so far is this: These salts (magnesium, potassium, sodium, etc.) are responsible for the "greasy" feel of the water. But it doesn’t say which salts exactly are ...
Neith's user avatar
  • 201

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