Question

Which of these will act as a non-electrolyte?
A. Liquid carbon tetrachloride
B. Acetic acid
C. Sodium hydroxide aqueous solution acid
D. Potassium chloride aqueous solution

Answer 1

Non-electrolytes tend to be a poor conductor of electricity. And the solutions of these non-electrolytes don't conduct electricity. Liquid carbon tetrachloride is a colorless liquid that has a sweet smell somewhat like that of chloroform. It is a covalent compound which does not have any free electrons.

Complete step by step answer: A non-electrolyte is a substance that does not dissociate into its ionic form when in aqueous solution. They don't readily dissociate into ions when melted or dissolved. And due to this such substances are known to be poor conductors of electricity. Most probably the solutions of the electrolytes would not conduct electricity at all. Now among the given substances, liquid carbon tetrachloride will act as a non-electrolyte. This is due to the following reasons.
- When a substance that is dissolved in water dissociates to form ions in the solution, then that substance is known as an electrolyte. And as this solution has free ions, it conducts electricity.
- Whereas, a solution that does not contain any ions is known as non-electrolyte. For example, carbon tetrachloride $C{Cl}_{4}$ when dissolved in water does not dissociate into ions and therefore, it does not conduct electricity. And therefore, it is a non-electrolyte.
- Whereas, if we talk about NaOH and KCl, they completely dissociate in water to give ions. And acetic acid does not dissociate completely but partially in the water.

Hence, option (A) is the correct option.

Note: The non-electrolytes are typically held together by covalent bonds that do not break apart when they are dissolved in a polar solvent. Therefore, the molecules of non-electrolytes are non-polar in nature.