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| Other Classes of Electrolytes (Acids, Bases and Salts) |
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| Acid, bases and their salts are all compounds that can undergo electrolytic dissociation. Hence these substances can also be classified as electrolytes. |
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| "An acid is a substance, which on dissolving in water forms hydrogen or hydronium ions, as the only positive ions." |
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 Strong acid |
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| An acid that gets completely or almost completely dissociated or ionised into ions is categorized as a strong acid. Greater the number of hydrogen ions or hydronium ions dissolved in water, the stronger is the acid. |
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| For e.g., concentrated (99%) sulphuric acid behaves like a weak electrolyte, as it has very few hydronium ions in it. But when added to water, it becomes a dilute acid. Under these conditions it produces large number of hydronium ions, it behaves like a stronger electrolyte. Thus dilute sulphuric acid is a "stronger" electrolyte as compared to concentrated sulphuric acid. |
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| A "strong acid" differs from a "concentrated acid". Concentration indicates the proportion of the acid in the aqueous solution. Whereas "strength" of an acid indicates the hydronium ion concentration in the solution. |
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Weak acid |
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| An acid which dissociates very feebly in water and whose molecules mostly remain in the undissociated form is categorized as a weak acid. It behaves as a weak electrolyte. |
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| "A base is an electrovalent compound, which on dissolving in water, dissociates into a positively charged metal ion or ammonium ion and a negatively charged hydroxyl ion." |
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Strong base |
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| A base that dissociates completely or almost completely into ions in aqueous medium is called a strong base. Greater the number of hydroxyl ions in water, the stronger it is as a base and an electrolyte. |
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Weak base |
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| A base that dissociates only partially into ions in aqueous medium is called a weak base. It behaves as a weak electrolyte. |
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| "A salt is an electrovalent compound, made up of a positive ion other than a hydrogen ion (H+) and a negative ion, other than a hydroxyl ion (OH-). When dissolved in water, it dissociates into free mobile ions." Such salts thus behave as electrolytes. They can be strong or weak electrolytes depending on the degree of dissociation. |
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