Chapter 3, Problem 50SA

Summary Introduction

To review:

Whether lithium ions are able to easily penetrate the cell or remain outside the cell (taking hydration spheres of sodium and potassium into consideration).

Introduction:

The water molecules are polar in nature. Hence, it is able to attract the charged ionic species (which includes ions of sodium Na⁺ and chlorine Cl^– ). These ions, when dissolved in the aqueous solution of water, form solvation spheres (also known as hydration spheres). In the hydration sphere, water molecules form a shell as they cluster around the ions.