Question

Katherine dissolves a tablespoon of salt into a glass of water, and watches as it disappears. she remembers from science class that sodium has an atomic number of 11, and chlorine of 17. as a result, she knows that in solution, when the molecules separate, sodium will be a

Answer 1

When table salt, which is chemically sodium chloride is added to water, the salt readily dissolves in the water. Sodium chloride being an ionic compound ionizes into sodium ion, Na
`^(+)`and chloride, Cl
`^(-)`.Sodium has an atomic number 11 and chlorine has an atomic number of 17.

Na-(2,8,1) can readily lose the outermost electron in order get a stable octet configuration on the valence shell. So, sodium forms a cation

Cl-(2,8,7) accepts an electron to complete the octet. So, chlorine forms an anion.

`NaCl(aq) -->Na^(+)(aq)+Cl^(-)(aq)`

Sodium will form a cation and chlorine an anion when NaCl is dissolved in water.