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Polar and Non-Polar Solutes

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How do you tell if a substance, KCL, for example, is ionic?

Explain in most simple terms exactly what makes an ionic compound dissolve in water, and how do you know if a substance to be dissoloved is polar, or non polar?

I know that water is polar, but get lost after that. Thanks.

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Solution Summary

The solution explains in very simple terms why exactly it is that ionic compounds dissolve in water and how to tell if a substance will be polar or not. It attaches an explanatory diagram to aid understanding as well.

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I've attached a conceptual drawing of water dissolving an ionic solid. And also of a polar vs. non-polar molecule.

A substance is ionic if there is a metal and a non metal. Occasionally the positive ion may not be a metal, such as with NH4Cl, that is componsed of an ammonium ion (NH4 +1 charge) and a ...

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