How does chemical bonding affect solubility?
1 Answer
Usually the most important criterion is whether the solute is molecular, or non-molecular....and of course we have to specify a solvent...
Explanation:
Molecular solutes tend to have some solubility in most common solvents, and the most common solvent is water... For instance, most common gases, i.e. dioxygen, dinitrogen, carbon dioxide, have some considerable solubility in water. And indeed they must if the ocean is to support life.
On the other hand, non-molecular solutes tend to have poor solubility in most common solvents. Materials such as quartz, graphite, many ionic compounds, tend to very sparing solubility or NO solubility. Some solvents, especially water, can react with ionic solutes...
And so how do you know? How else but by experiment? There are a few empirical rules...but usually you have to commit the solubilities of common substances to memory, and then offer an ad hoc reason for solubility...
