Individual atoms are too small for a person to see. However, we can determine the type of bond a substance has by its behavior. If we were to put a substance in water such as sand, how could you use what you learned in this lab to discover its bond type?
In this lab, we have learned that substances with ionic bonds dissociate into ions when dissolved in water, while substances with covalent bonds do not dissociate. By observing the behavior of the substance when placed in water, we can determine its bond type.
If we were to put a substance like sand in water, which is primarily composed of silica (SiO2), we could observe its behavior to determine its bond type. Sand, consisting of covalent bonds between silicon and oxygen atoms, would not readily dissolve in water. It would stay intact and settle at the bottom of the water.
On the other hand, if we were to dissolve a substance with an ionic bond in water, such as table salt (sodium chloride, NaCl), it would readily dissociate into sodium and chloride ions. We would observe the substance dissolving completely in water, with the formation of a clear solution.
By comparing the behavior of sand and table salt in water, we can conclude that sand has covalent bonds and table salt has ionic bonds. Thus, we can determine the bond type of a substance by observing its behavior when dissolved in water.