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1 mole of NaCl and 1 mole of one has more concentration. Why?

A) NaCl has more ions
B) The size of the molecules
C) The nature of the solute
D) None of the above

User Marc T
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1 Answer

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Final answer:

The more concentrated solution is due to the ionic compound NaCl because it dissociates into two types of ions, doubling the number of particles in solution compared to a molecular compound that does not dissociate.

Step-by-step explanation:

When comparing 1 mole of NaCl to 1 mole of a molecular compound, NaCl has a higher concentration in solution because it is an ionic compound that dissociates into its constituent ions. Every mole of NaCl that dissolves yields 1 mole of Na+ ions and 1 mole of Cl¯ ions, resulting in a total of 2 mol of particles in solution. Therefore, the more concentrated solution is due to NaCl because it provides more dissolved particles per mole as compared to a non-ionic molecular compound which would only provide 1 mole of particles per mole dissolved.

For example, dissolving 1 M NaCl results in a 1 M Na+ (aq) and 1 M Cl¯ (aq), thereby having a net particle concentration of 2 M. This ultimately means that the observed properties related to concentration, like colligative properties, will be twice as large for a 1 M solution of NaCl compared to a 1 M solution of a molecular compound like glucose (C6H12O6). This is because the molecular compound does not dissociate into additional particles.

User Rbajales
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