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Explain why water can separate and disperse ionic solids such as NaCl but most other solvents are unable to do so

User Andy Groff
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Answer:

A solvent is a chemical substance that has the ability to dissolve other chemical compounds, called solute, to form a solution.

Solvents can be polar and non-polar in nature.

In general, polar solvents dissolve only polar solute molecules and non-polar solvents dissolve only non-polar solute molecules.

Highly polar solute molecule such as ionic compounds like NaCl and sugars, dissolve only in highly polar solvents with a large dielectric constant like water.

Therefore, because of the high dielectric constant of water, ionic compounds can be easily separated and dispersed.

User David Roussel
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