The strong affinity of water molecules for particles of dissolved substances that leads to electrolytic dissociation is called what?

• A. Solubility
• B. Hydration
• C. Molarity
• D. Henry's Law

Answer: (B)

Hydration is the process at work here. Water’s polarity means its partially negative oxygen is attracted to cations, while its partially positive hydrogens attract anions. When a substance dissolves, water molecules surround the ions, forming hydration shells. This solvation stabilizes the ions in solution and weakens the forces keeping them bound in the solid or in the intact solute, promoting their separation into ions. That separation into freely moving ions is what we call electrolytic dissociation, and it’s enabled by hydration. The other terms aren’t describing this mechanism: solubility is about how much dissolves, molarity is a concentration measure, and Henry’s Law relates to gas solubility under pressure.