How will the boiling point of a liter of water containing 1 mole of sodium chloride (NaCl) compare with that of a liter of water containing 1 mole of calcium chloride (CaCl2)? Explain your answer.

Question

festinger · Answer

The simple answer is that the boiling point of the water with NaCl will be less than that with CaCl2. Boiling point elevation and freezing point depression depend on what is called the van 't Hoff factor. This factor is simply an integer that represents how many particles are released from an ionic compound when dissolved. NaCl becomes Na+ and Cl-, which give a factor of 2, while CaCl2 becomes Ca2+ and 2Cl-, resulting in a factor of 3. If the problem asks for a quantitative comparison, the increase in boiling point of the water with CaCl2 will be 3/2 greater than that with NaCl (note that this is the increase in temperature, not the actual temperature at which they boil). SRC= http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110224134049AAjHK3T

anonymous · Answer

So basically because of the oxidation numbers the water with the NaCl has a lower boiling point.