How do I determine which of the following aqueous solutions should demonstrate the most ideal behavior? 1.0M MgSO4 or 1.0M NaCl?
To determine which of the following aqueous solutions, 1.0M MgSO4 or 1.0M NaCl, demonstrates the most ideal behavior, we need to understand what is meant by "ideal behavior" in this context.
In chemistry, "ideal behavior" generally refers to the behavior of an ideal solution. An ideal solution is one that follows Raoult's law, which states that the vapor pressure of a component in a solution is directly proportional to its mole fraction. This means that in an ideal solution, the behavior of each component is independent of the presence of other components.
To determine whether 1.0M MgSO4 or 1.0M NaCl is more likely to exhibit ideal behavior, we need to consider their chemical properties.
NaCl (sodium chloride) is a binary salt compound composed of sodium ions (Na+) and chloride ions (Cl-). It dissolves in water to release these ions. Both sodium ions and chloride ions are small, and their hydration energies (energy released when ions are surrounded by water molecules) are relatively high. As a result, NaCl forms a strong ionic bond and dissociates completely in water, meaning that it forms a high concentration of ions.
On the other hand, MgSO4 (magnesium sulfate) is also a salt compound composed of magnesium ions (Mg2+) and sulfate ions (SO42-). However, the hydration energy of Mg2+ ions is higher compared to Na+ ions, leading to a different behavior in solution. While MgSO4 does dissociate in water, it does so only to a certain extent, resulting in some ions remaining associated with each other.
Based on these properties, we can infer that NaCl is more likely to exhibit ideal behavior compared to MgSO4. This is because NaCl readily dissociates into individual ions in water, and the behavior of each ion can be considered independent of the other. In contrast, MgSO4 exhibits some association between the Mg2+ and SO42- ions, making its behavior less ideal.
Therefore, the 1.0M NaCl solution is expected to demonstrate the most ideal behavior.