Final answer:
Potassium chloride dissolves in water as polar water molecules surround the ions due to ion-dipole forces, resulting in hydrated ions that disperse into the solution.
Step-by-step explanation:
When potassium chloride (KCl) is added to water, it dissolves by a process called hydration, where the polar water molecules interact with the ions in the solid. The potassium ions (K+) and chloride ions (Cl−) in KCl are surrounded by water molecules due to the ion-dipole forces.
Positively charged hydrogen atoms of the water are attracted to the negatively charged chloride ions, while the negatively charged oxygen atoms of the water molecules are attracted to the positively charged potassium ions.
This attraction weakens the strong electrostatic forces that hold the ions together in the solid state, thus allowing them to disperse into the solution as hydrated ions. In a diagram representing this, we might see purple spheres labeled K+ and green spheres labeled Cl− surrounded by clusters of red and white spheres representing water molecules (H2O), with red for oxygen and white for hydrogen.