theory of electrolytic dissociation
- noun
- /ˈθiəri əv ˌɪlɛkˈtrɒlɪtɪk dɪˌsoʊsiˈeɪʃən/
- Specialized
:
teoría de la disociación electrolítica
- According to the theory of electrolytic dissociation, when table salt is mixed with water, it separates into sodium and chloride ions.
Examples
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And so it was the theory of electrolytic dissociation that won the Nobel Prize.
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The theory of electrolytic dissociation helps scientists understand how salts dissolve in water to conduct electricity.
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Many chemistry courses teach the theory of electrolytic dissociation to explain the behavior of acids and bases in solution.
Synonyms
An explanation of how acids and bases split into charged particles in water
Acids break into hydrogen ions and bases into hydroxide ions in water, forming salt and water
Surface Forms
Morphology
theory + of + electrolytic + dissociation
The phrase is compositional: 'theory of' signals an explanation about the following noun, and 'electrolytic' (relating to electrolysis/ions) modifies 'dissociation' (splitting into ions), so a learner who knows those words can infer it is a scientific explanation of dissociation involving electrolytic/ionic processes. It is technical but structurally transparent—understanding precise chemical details requires subject knowledge, but the overall meaning is directly derivable from the constituents.
Etymology
Theory of electrolytic dissociation comes from Arrhenius's idea that some substances break into tiny charged parts when they dissolve in water. Think of electrolytic as 'about electricity' and dissociation as 'breaking apart'—those moving charged bits, called 'ions', carry 'electricity', which is why the theory explains why solutions conduct electricity.
