When 10grams of sodium chloride, NaCL,dissolves in 100grams of water, the freezing point of the water gose down to -5.9C. when 10grams of table sugar C H O, dissolves in 100grams of water, the freezing point only goes down to - 0.56C. how do yo0u account for this difference?

The difference in freezing point depression between sodium chloride (NaCl) and table sugar (C12H22O11) can be explained by the concept of colligative properties.

Colligative properties are physical properties that depend on the number of solute particles in a given quantity of solvent, regardless of the nature of the solute. Freezing point depression is one such colligative property, which is defined as the difference between the freezing points of the pure solvent (in this case, water) and the solution.

To account for the difference in freezing point depression, we need to examine the number of solute particles produced upon dissolution of the substances.

In the case of sodium chloride (NaCl), it dissociates completely into ions when it dissolves in water. One mole of NaCl will produce one mole each of sodium ions (Na+) and chloride ions (Cl-). Therefore, one formula unit of NaCl will produce two solute particles.

On the other hand, table sugar (C12H22O11) does not ionize when it dissolves in water. It remains intact as individual sugar molecules. Therefore, one formula unit of table sugar will produce only one solute particle.

The freezing point depression is directly proportional to the number of solute particles. Since sodium chloride produces more solute particles than table sugar, it will have a greater effect on lowering the freezing point of water.

Hence, the difference in freezing point depression between sodium chloride and table sugar can be attributed to the difference in the number of solute particles produced when they dissolve in water.