Question

Why pure water is not a strong electrolyte?

Answer 1

Water:

• Water (${\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}$) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and almost colorless chemical substance
• It is the major ingredient of the Earth's hydrosphere as well as the fluids of all known living species (in which it acts as a solvent).

Electrolyte:

• An electrolyte is a material containing ions that conducts electricity by ion movement but not electrons.
• Most soluble salts, acids, and bases dissolved in a polar solvent, such as water, fall into this category.

Pure water as a weak electrolyte:

• Pure water molecules do not have enough ions to transmit electrons from one end to the other.
• Pure water is a poor electrolyte due to this feature.
• To be a powerful electrolyte, it must ionize into its constituent ions, however pure water only barely ionizes into its ions, making it a weak electrolyte.
• As a result of the strong hydrogen bonding, pure water is not a powerful electrolyte.