Question
The table shows the properties of four substances. Is substance A an ionic compound? no multirow(2)(*)( Conducts electricity? ) & multicolumn(4)(|c|)( Substance ) cline ( 2 - 5 ) & A & B & C & D When solid & no & no & yes & (i) When molten & no & yes & yes & (ii) When in solution & no & yes & N/A & (iii)
Answer
4.2
(210 Votes)
Annabelle
Master · Tutor for 5 years
Answer
The problem question in human language: A table represents the electric conductivity properties of four substances (A, B, C, and D) under different conditions: - Substance A does not conduct electricity in solid, molten or in solution form. - Substance B does not conduct electricity when solid, but does when molten and in solution. - Substance C conducts electricity when solid and when molten, and there is no available information about when it is in solution. - Data for Substance D is missing. Based on the shown information, we have to determine if substance A can be classified as an ionic compound.Solution:First we need to understand some properties of ionic compounds for this analysis. Ionic compounds do NOT conduct electricity when solid, because the ions are locked securely into their crystal lattice structure and hence cannot move freely. However, Ionic compounds DO conduct electricity when molten and when in aqueous solutions, because the ions are free to move. Now, let's check if substance A corresponds to those properties above: - In solid state, substance A does not conduct electricity, which agrees with the properties of ionic compound. - However, in the molten and solution states, substance A still does not conduct electricity. This disagrees with the properties of an ionic compound.Based on this comparison analysis, we can determine that substance A is not an ionic compound because even though it displays similar behavior of not conducting electricity when in its solid state (which is consistent with ionic compounds), the crucial part is its inability to conduct electricity in the molten state and when dissolved in a solution (In aqueous form). This is counteractive to the properties of Ionic compounds. Given this information, it is confirmed that Substance A does not follow the customary properties of an ionic compound, and hence, not an ionic compound. FINAL ANSWER: NO, Substance A is not an ionic compound.