Why is sodium benzoate soluble in water?

Answer 1

Sodium sulphate is a salt and as such is polar. The sodium part is a positive sodium ion which is then joined to a sulphate ion (negative). The + and - charges is what pulls the ions together to form sodium sulphate.

Water contains hydrogen bonds which means the H2O forms molecules with slightly negatively charged O atoms and slightly positively charged H atoms. Basically the big Oxygen atoms attract the tiny hydrogen atom's electron, making the O more -ve and the H more +ve.

This means when sodium sulphate is put in water, the -ve sulphate ion is attracted to the +e hydrogen atoms and the +ve sodium ion attracted to the -ve O atoms. This splits up the sodium sulphate and it becomes a sea of water molecules containing sodium hydroxide and hydrogen sulphide.

Answer 2

Sodium benzoate is soluble in water because it can dissociate into its sodium and benzoate ions, which can interact with water molecules through ion-dipole interactions. This allows sodium benzoate to dissolve and form a homogeneous solution with water.

Answer 3

because its polar

Answer 4

because it is a chemical