Question

Which is more conductive: magnesium sulfate or sodium chloride?

Answer 1

Hmm. I would guess the one with a bigger charge magnitude in its ions.

Answer 2

Well, magnesium sulfate....Mg 2+ SO4 2-.....while sodium chloride is Na+ Cl-...
So I'm not sure...

Answer 3

Maybe magnesium sulfate?? I'm not sure..

Answer 4

I would say so. Sorry I was answering other questions. Here's my logic(might be wrong):

Ionic compounds can conduct electricity in aqueous state because they ave free moving ions and electrons so I would say if you have more electrons roaming around, you can conduct electricity better.

You can wait for confirmation or look up factors affecting ion conductivity.

Answer 5

Oh, also, are metals conductive in water? Basically, are they electrolytes?

Answer 6

I'm not sure what you mean by metals in water. Basically ionic compounds are electrolytes.

Answer 7

Like metallic bonds? I know they're great conductors...but say you placed these metals in water?

Answer 8

It's part of my lab...I had to put zinc and aluminum in water...

Answer 9

Just those elements themselves? I they will conduct electricity but it won't add to the conductivity of the water I think. Why don't you try it then?

Answer 10

The Ksp of MgSO4 is 2.51x10^-2
NaCl dissolves completely in solution.
Calculate the number of Mg2+ ions in a 1L 1M solution of MgSO4 and calculate the number of Na+ ions in a 1L 1M solution of NaCl...
Check the charges
I think that's how you ought to approach it

Answer 11

Not 100% sure about the charges bit but the rest seems somewhat viable

Answer 12

I've never tried before

Answer 13

Yeah that's all I got. I only had high school chemistry.

Answer 14

I did try it...It doesn't seem like they can conduct as well though...so I'm guessing metallic bonds aren't as conductive in pure water :3

Answer 15

@moaraznthanu I don't have a specific amount of each compound to calculate ; w ;
And what's KSp?

Answer 16

Solubility constant for chemical equilibrium

Answer 17

Ionic bonds are always the best for electrical conductivity as ionic bonds almost always break apart completely in water.

Answer 18

Ionic bonds break in water because the ions find it easier to bond with the particles in the water, and they have a natural tendency to do so whilst metallic and covalent compounds rely heavily upon their relative solubility and ion content. In almost any case, I'd say that the conductivity of the ionic compound would be higher than that of the metallic compound.
I am reasonably sure you can apply that explanation here. ^-^

Answer 19

That makes sense! Thank you so much! :)

Answer 20

npnp