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This may be a little challenging if you don't have a solid understanding of chemistry, but basically here is why: sodium chloride (NaCl) is the salt in salt water (water being H2O) When salt dissolves in water it actually breaks into it's most stable ion form Na+ and Cl-. It also should be understood that H2O (water) is in fact H+ and OH- ions, which is a more stable form of liquid water. The reason atoms tend go to an electrically stable state has to do with quantum chemistry. Basically sodium atoms have an extra electron they freely give up to the water solution, while chlorine atoms capture and use that extra electron to stabilize their electrical energy state. Salty water in effect is a solution of sodium, chlorine, hydrogen and hydroxide ions, with electrons going from one atom/molecule to another. This is why salty water is a good conductor of electricity (lots of free electrons to move around).

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