Katherine dissolves a tablespoon of salt into a glass of water, and watches as it disappears. she remembers from science class that sodium has an atomic number of 11, and chlorine of 17. as a result, she knows that in solution, when the molecules separate, sodium will be a

When table salt, which is chemically sodium chloride is added to water, the salt readily dissolves in the water. Sodium chloride being an ionic compound ionizes into sodium ion, Naand chloride, Cl.Sodium has an atomic number 11 and chlorine has an atomic number of 17.

Na-(2,8,1) can readily lose the outermost electron in order get a stable octet configuration on the valence shell. So, sodium forms a cation

Cl-(2,8,7) accepts an electron to complete the octet. So, chlorine forms an anion.

Sodium will form a cation and chlorine an anion when NaCl is dissolved in water.

b. is the answer hoped i        

nacl or sodium chloride is an ionic compound. this is because an ionic compound pertains to a compound that consists of positively and negatively charged ions. in this case, na (sodium) has a tendency to lose one electron when it reacts with with other atoms, so the resulting sodium ion contains 11 protons and 10 electrons, thus making it positively charged (na+), when chlorine reacts, it usually gains one electron to form an ion called chloride, thus making it negatively charged ( since the ions are oppositely charged, they attract.