Final answer:
A substance that releases ions when dissolved in water is called an electrolyte, and the resulting solution can conduct electricity. Strong electrolytes fully dissociate into ions, while weak electrolytes only partially dissociate.
Step-by-step explanation:
A substance that releases ions in solution when dissolved in water is called a electrolyte. This solution can conduct electricity. Electrolytes, when dissolved in water, dissociate into their respective ions, which makes the solution conducive to electrical current flow. This quality is what grants such solutions their ability to conduct electricity.
There are substances known as strong electrolytes, which almost completely disassociate into ions in solutions. These include all soluble ionic compounds and some acids and bases such as HCl, HBr, HI, and H₂SO₄. These compounds produce a high concentration of ions that enable the solution to conduct electricity very well, akin to NaCl solutions. On the contrary, substances that only partially disassociate are known as weak electrolytes, and they do not conduct electricity as effectively due to their lower ion concentration in solution.
Moreover, there are nonelectrolytes, which do not produce ions in water, leading to an electrically nonconducting solution. Common examples of nonelectrolytes are most covalent compounds, such as sugar or ethanol, which dissolve in water but do not disassociate into ions.