- #1
Abu
- 39
- 16
Hi everyone. I am a beginner in chemistry (introductory) so my knowledge is pretty limited when it comes to this subject.
From what I have been taught, like dissolves like, meaning polar dissolves polar and non-polar dissolves non-polar. The electronegativity difference of AgCl is around 1.3, which makes it polar covalent (which is strange because I thought AgCl was an ionic bond since it is a metal and nonmetal). In water, AgCl is insoluble - but how come? The electronegativity difference of H2O is 1.5, which also makes it polar covalent. So shouldn't the water dissolve the AgCl? Is this an exception? When I tried researching this question, some people even said that AgCl is non-polar covalent, which seems incorrect to me.
Another example is AgCl in potassium nitrate. Potassium nitrate is an ionic bond because it consists of a cation and anion, AgCl is a polar covalent bond due to the EN difference, despite being ionic in the sense that it is metal and nonmetal. Since one is Ionic and the other is polar covalent, it makes sense to me why AgCl does not dissolve in potassium nitrate, and should instead form a precipitate.
So how come AgCl will not dissolve in water, where it seems that the rule like dissolves like should apply?
From what I have been taught, like dissolves like, meaning polar dissolves polar and non-polar dissolves non-polar. The electronegativity difference of AgCl is around 1.3, which makes it polar covalent (which is strange because I thought AgCl was an ionic bond since it is a metal and nonmetal). In water, AgCl is insoluble - but how come? The electronegativity difference of H2O is 1.5, which also makes it polar covalent. So shouldn't the water dissolve the AgCl? Is this an exception? When I tried researching this question, some people even said that AgCl is non-polar covalent, which seems incorrect to me.
Another example is AgCl in potassium nitrate. Potassium nitrate is an ionic bond because it consists of a cation and anion, AgCl is a polar covalent bond due to the EN difference, despite being ionic in the sense that it is metal and nonmetal. Since one is Ionic and the other is polar covalent, it makes sense to me why AgCl does not dissolve in potassium nitrate, and should instead form a precipitate.
So how come AgCl will not dissolve in water, where it seems that the rule like dissolves like should apply?