What is the type of intermolecular attraction that occurs between the sodium ions and the water molecules?

1 Answer
anor277
Jan 19, 2017

This is an #"ion-dipole"# interaction.

Explanation:

When sodium chloride dissolves in water, we represent the reaction in this way:

#NaCl(s) + "excess water"rarrNa^(+)(aq) + Cl^(-)(aq)#

The #Na^+(aq)# species is the aquated sodium ion, which is probably #[Na{(OH)_2}_6]^+#; the #Cl^(-)(aq)# ion is something similar. This is quite properly regarded as a chemical reaction in that strong bonds have been broken, and new ion-dipole bonds and new substances have been formed.

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