Marty, this is a home work help site. We don't DO the home work. We HELP you do it.
Polar solvents dissolve polar elements/compounds. Non-polar solvents dissolve non-polar elements/compounds. #1 tells you water is a polar solvent. So look at the compounds in a and decide which are polar and which are non-polar. I like the "like dissolves like" statement. That means those materials that are polar OR that have a number of OH particles (similar to H2O) attached will dissolve in water.
1. Water is a polar molecule. Therefore, it acts as a polar sollvent.
a) Think about the following compounds: iodine, cobalt (II) chloride and sucrose (C12H22O11). Which compounds are soluble in water.
b) Assume that the interaction between solutes and solvents that you examine here applies to a wide variety of substances. Make a general statement about the type of solute that dissolves in polar solvents.
If you could explain how you got each answer, it would be greatly appreciated!
6 answers
Would this be a correct general statement about the type of solute dissolves in non-polar solvents:
Compounds that are non-polar will dissolve in non-polar solvents.
Do you have any tips on how I could elaborate on this?
Compounds that are non-polar will dissolve in non-polar solvents.
Do you have any tips on how I could elaborate on this?
Your general statement is fine as far as it goes but it doesn't go far enough. (The primary thing wrong with it is that it tells what happens to non-polar solutes and non-polar solvents but it doesn't address what the question asks for; i.e., "about the type of solutes that dissolve in polar solvents." Go back and look at the solutes. Tell which you think will dissolve in water and which will not. Take that information and what I wrote in my last response to make a general statement.
Could you explain your "like dissolves like" statement?
polar dissolves polar, polar CANNOT dissolve polar or vice versa.
Like dissolves like. Polar compounds will dissolve in polar solvents. (polar is like polar). Compounds that contain OH as part of their structure, even though they are generally non-polar in nature, will dissolve in water, for example. (Compounds like CH3OH and C2H5OH are freely soluble in water. These are organic molecules but they contain the OH part which agrees with the water HOH. So again, like (OH) dissolves in like (OH)). Of course non-polar solutes dissolve in non-polar solvents.(non-polar is like non-polar).