ELECTROLYTES[11]
|
solid |
concentrated |
dilute |
charged |
solvent |
| dissolves |
salts |
ions | conductive | result |
| conducts | electrolysis | due | solute |
In chemistry, an electrolyte is any substance containing free 1. .......................... that make the substance electrically 2. .......................... . The most typical electrolyte is an ionic solution, but molten electrolytes and 3. .......................... electrolytes are also possible.
Commonly, electrolytes are solutions of acids, bases or 4. .......................... . Furthermore, some gases may act as electrolytes under conditions of high temperature or low pressure. Electrolyte solutions can also 5. .......................... from the dissolution of some biological (e.g., DNA, polypeptides) and synthetic polymers (e.g., polystyrene sulfonate), termed polyelectrolytes, which contain 6. .......................... functional groups.
Electrolyte solutions are normally formed when a salt is placed into a 7. .......................... such as water and the individual components dissociate 8. .......................... to the thermodynamic interactions between solvent and 9. .......................... molecules, in a process called solvation. For example, when table salt, NaCl, is placed in water, the salt (a solid) dissolves into its component ions, according to the dissociation reaction
NaCl(s) 
Na+(aq) + Cl-(aq)
It is also possible for substances to react with water producing ions, e.g., carbon dioxide gas
10. .......................... in water to produce a solution which contains hydronium, carbonate, and hydrogen carbonate ions.
Note that molten salts can be electrolytes as well. For instance, when sodium chloride is molten, the liquid 11. .......................... electricity.
An electrolyte in a solution may be described as 12. .......................... if it has a high concentration of ions, or 13. .......................... if it has a low concentration. If a high proportion of the solute dissociates to form free ions, the electrolyte is strong; if most of the solute does not dissociate, the electrolyte is weak. The properties of electrolytes may be exploited using 14. .......................... to extract constituent elements and compounds contained within the solution.