When methanol, ch3oh, is dissolve in water, a nonconducting solution reslults. when acetic acid, ch3cooh, diisolves in water, the solution is weakly conductng and acidic in nature. describe what happens upon dissolution in the two ases, and account for the different results

Answer and Explanation:

When methanol (CH₃OH) dissolves in water, the following equilibrium takes place:

CH₃OH + H₂O ⇄ CH₃O⁻ + H₃O⁺

The dissociation constant is about 10⁻¹⁶ (very very small), so methanol practically does not dissociate in its ions in water, thus the solution does not conduct electricity (because there is a very small quantity of ions).

By other hand, acetic acid (CH₃COOH) dissociates in water as follows:

CH₃COOH + H₂O ⇄ CH₃COO⁻ + H₃O⁺

and its dissociation constant is about 10⁻⁵, which is not negligible. So, there is a considerable quantity of ions in solution and they can conduct electricity.