Question

Why Lithium-ion is highly hydrated?

Answer 1

Lithium:

1. Lithium is chemically represented by the symbol $\mathrm{Li}$.
2. The atomic number of Lithium is 3.

Hydration:

1. The size of the ion determines the degree of hydration.
2. The degree of hydration is proportional to the size of the cation produced.

Hydration Property of Lithium:

1. When alkali metals are introduced in aqueous conditions, they have a powerful reducing tendency because they rapidly lose an electron and have large oxidizing potentials.
2. Lithium has the highest hydration energy of all the alkali metals since it is the smallest (in terms of size).
3. Lithium's high charge density is another property that contributes to its high hydration energy.

Hence, Lithium-ion is highly hydrated because of its small size and higher charge density.