Why do some solutions make such good conductors?

Question

Why do some solutions make such good conductors?

Answer 1

solutions make good conductors because:

when a substance dissolves in water, it splits in two ions, a positive and a negative ions
the ions are able to carry an electrical charge because they have a charge within itself

for example:
NaCl is not able to conduct electricity when it is in its solid form
but when you dissolve it in water, it will conduct electricity because Na+ and Cl- will form in water
Likewise, water by itself is also not able to conduct electricty (distlled water) but when ions are present in it, it can conduct electricity

Answer 2

there are two ways to make conducting solutions - the compound that makes the conducting solution is called an electrolyte - electrolytes can be strong or weak - because the ions are in solution, they can move around (they can't move in solid form) and carry electric current

1) dissolve an ionic compound - when an ionic compound dissolves, the ions dissociate into positive and negative ions - the ions were already there, but they weren't free to move around - the dissociation of the ions is a physical change as the water can be removed and you get the original compound back - dissolved ionic compounds are always strong electrolytes

2) dissolve certain molecular compounds in water - some molecular compounds undergo a process known as ionization - they react with the water to make ions - the molecular compounds that will ionize are molecular acids and bases - strong acids like HCl, HNO3, HI, HBr, H2SO4, HClO4, HClO3 will completely ionize and be strong electrolytes like the dissolved ionic compounds - weak acids (any acid NOT a strong acid) will only produce a few ions and will be weak electrolytes - weak bases (like NH3) will also produce some ions and will be weak electrolytes

it is all about the presence of the ions

Answer 3

The solutions which are good conductors are aqueous solutions of ionic compounds

Substances like acids, bases ans salts are decomposed in water into charged particles (ex: NaCl Na+ and OH-) these compounds when moving give rise to an electric current.