Question

The compound Copper (II) bromide is a strong electrolyte. What is the reaction when solid Copper (II) bromide is put into water?

Answer 1

Hint: We know that an electrolyte is a substance that dissociates into ions (cation and anion) when it dissolves in a polar solvent. The formed ions uniformly scatter in the solvent and conduct electricity. However, the solution turns electrically neutral.

Complete answer:
Copper (II) bromide is a strong electrolyte which means it will readily ionize and conduct electricity more efficiently. The Copper bromide dissociates in the water as follows:
$CuB{{r}_{2\left( aq \right)}}\text{ }\to \text{ C}{{\text{u}}^{2+}}_{\left( aq \right)}\text{ + 2B}{{\text{r}}^{-}}_{\left( aq \right)}$
Here, aqueous is used as a subscript to indicate the presence of Copper bromide and its ions in the water.
We can see that $\text{C}{{\text{u}}^{2+}}_{\left( aq \right)}$ ions are formed from Copper bromide. The colour of $\text{C}{{\text{u}}^{2+}}_{\left( aq \right)}$ ions is bright blue.
When the solid copper bromide is put into water it forms a coordination compound. The water molecules $(O{{H}_{2}})$surround the $\text{C}{{\text{u}}^{2+}}$ ions. The coordination number of $\text{C}{{\text{u}}^{2+}}_{\left( aq \right)}$ is 6. So, 6 molecules of water attach themselves to the $\text{C}{{\text{u}}^{2+}}$ ion. Water molecules $(O{{H}_{2}})$ act as a ligand in the formed coordination compound that is ${{[Cu{{\left( O{{H}_{2}} \right)}_{6}}]}^{2+}}$in the aqueous solution.
The dissolution of anhydrous copper bromide in water forms ${{[Cu{{\left( O{{H}_{2}} \right)}_{6}}]}^{2+}}$.

Additional information:
Copper (II) bromide is formed by the reaction between Copper oxide and Hydrogen bromide. It is obtained by crystallization from water. To form a solid \[CuB{{r}_{2}}\] it is filtered and concentrated in a vacuum. To remove all the water molecules \[CuB{{r}_{2}}\] is dehydrated by using Phosphorus pentoxide.


Note:
A substance becomes an electrolyte when it forms ions in a polar solvent like water, methanol, and acetic acid. However, pure water is a very weak electrolyte. Strong electrolytes are strong acids, strong bases, and salts. Sometimes few ionic compounds are also considered strong electrolytes.