Chemistry
Give reasons for the following:
Ammonia is unionized in the gaseous state but in the aqueous solution, it is a weak electrolyte.
Electrolysis
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Answer
NH3 is polar covalent in nature, i.e., shows charge distribution in its molecules such that the 3 hydrogen atoms have a slight positive charge and Nitrogen atom has a slight negative charge.
The nitrogen atom in ammonia has a lone pair of electrons. In aqueous solution, the ammonia molecule combines with a hydrogen atom H+ by sharing the lone pair of electrons of nitrogen atom to form ammonium ion (NH4+). Thus, in water, ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH) dissociates into NH4+ (ammonium ion) and OH- (hydroxide ion) as follows:
NH4OH ⟶ NH4+ + OH-
Due to this ionisation, aqueous solution of ammonia (NH4OH) behaves as a weak electrolyte.
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