Potential Electrolytes Nonionic Substances That React with the Solvent to Yield Ions

Potential Electrolytes Nonionic Substances that React with the Solvent to Yield Ions 

A large number of substances (e.g., organic acids) show little conductivity in the pure liquid state. Evidently there must be some fundamental difference in structure between organic acids and inorganic salts, and this difference is responsible for the fact that one pure liquid (the true eleetrolyte) is an ionic conductor and the other is not. 

What is this difference between, say, sodium ehloride and acetic acid Electron diffraction studies furnish an answer. They show that gaseous acetic acid consists of separate, neutral molecules and the bonding of the atoms inside these molecules is essentially nonionic. These neutral moleeules retain their identity and separate existence when the gas condenses to give liquid aeetie acid. Hence, there are hardly any ions in liquid acetic acid and therefore little conductivity. 

the first requirement of an electrolyte is that it should give rise to a conducting solution. From this point of view, it appears that acetic acid will never answer the requirements of an electrolyte it is nomomc. When, however, acetic add is dissolved in water, an interesting phenomenon oeeurs ions are produced, and therefore the solutions conduct electricity. Thus, acetic acid, too, is a type of eleetrolyte it is not a true electrolyte, but a potential one ( one which can, but has not yet, become ). Potential electrolytes are also called ionogens, i.e., ion producers.  

How does acetic acid, which does not eonsist of ions in the pure liquid state, generate ions when dissolved in water In short, how do potential eleetrolytes work Obviously, there must be some reaction between neutral acetic acid molecules and water, and this reaction must lead to the splitting of the acetic acid molecules into charged fragments, or ions. 

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