Dissociation of Ionic Compounds in Polar Solvents

Ionic compounds dissolve in polar solvents with ionization into cations and anions.

The ionized ions are in equilibrium with the un-dissociated molecules.

AxBy ⇌ xA^y+ + yB^x-

Ionic Solids in Solutions

Strong electrolytes (α ≈100% ionization), Weak electrolytes (α ≈ 10% ionization), Sparingly soluble (α ≈100% ionization)

Example: HCl, NaOH, Salts NH₄OH, Organic acids AgCl, BaSO₄

Ionization of Weak Electrolytes

In infinite dilution, all electrolytes are fully ionized. In a concentrated solution, weak electrolytes exist in equilibrium with their unionized molecules. Concentrations of the ions are important in many practical situations like acid-base solubility, and conductance of the solution.