Question

Classify the following compounds into strong, weak, and non-electrolytes.

Acetic acid, Ammonium Chloride, Carbon tetrachloride, Ammonium hydroxide, Dilute Hydrochloric acid, Dilute Sulphuric acid

Answer 1

Electrolytes

The substance or compound which can dissociate into its respective ions thereby conducting electricity is an electrolyte.

Step 1: Strong electrolytes
Strong electrolytes undergo complete dissociation and possess high conductivity due to the presence of several ions. They are all ionic or polar compounds.

Dilute Sulphuric acid(${\mathit{H}}_{\mathbf{2}}\mathit{S}{\mathit{O}}_{\mathbf{4}}$), Hydrochloric acid($\mathit{H}\mathit{C}\mathit{l}$), and Ammonium Chloride($\mathit{N}{\mathit{H}}_{\mathbf{4}}\mathit{C}\mathit{l}$) are strong electrolytes since they are polar or ionic compounds.

Step 2: weak electrolytes
For weak electrolytes, they dissociate partially and only less number of ions are produced rest exist in the molecular form itself.

Acetic acid($\mathit{C}{\mathit{H}}_{\mathbf{3}}\mathit{C}\mathit{O}\mathit{O}\mathit{H}$), and Ammonium hydroxide ($\mathit{N}{\mathit{H}}_{\mathbf{4}}\mathit{O}\mathit{H}$) are weak electrolytes since they are not polar compounds only partial ionization is there.

Step 3: Non-Electrolytes n

Non-electrolyte does not produce ions in any of its forms and is not a conductor of electricity.
Carbon tetrachloride($\mathit{C}\mathit{C}{\mathit{l}}_{\mathbf{4}}$) is a non-electrolyte since it is a covalent bond no ionization is there.