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how can we say pure water is weak electrolyte

how can we say pure water is weak electrolyte

Grade:12

2 Answers

Aarti Gupta
askIITians Faculty 300 Points
9 years ago
Electrolyte is defined as a substance which when dissolved in water,resulting in solution which conducts electricity.Electrolyte contains free ions and these ions are responsible for conduction of current.Now in case of water which is composed of gaseous hydrogen and gaseous oxygen,conduction of current is very poor.As in case of water,very few ions are present so water is considered as waek elctrolyte.But when NaCl or H2SO4 is added,conduction of current gets increased as ions(Na+,Cl- and 2H+,SO42-) get available resulting in flow of current.
Raheema Javed
156 Points
9 years ago
Pure water containing no exogenous ions is an excellent insulator, but not even "deionized" water is completely free of ions. Water undergoes auto-ionization in the liquid state, when two water molecules form one hydroxide anion (OH−) and one hydronium cation (H
3O+
).Because water is such a good solvent, it almost always has some solute dissolved in it, often a salt. If water has even a tiny amount of such an impurity, then it can conduct electricity far more readily.

In pure water, sensitive equipment can detect a very slight electrical conductivity of 0.055 µS/cm at 25°C. Water can also be electrolyzed into oxygen and hydrogen gases but in the absence of dissolved ions this is a very slow process, as very little current is conducted. In ice, the primary charge carriers are protons (see proton conductor).

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