VAN'T HOFF FACTOR

Question

Hi! How can I know if a compound is ionic or not because i have to find the vant hoff factor...for example: why is the vant hoff factor of the glucose 1? I'd like to get a way to determine it. THANKS

Answer 1

For the most part, you simply have to know certain compound are or are not ionic. Essentially, ask yourself if the compound of interest will ionize or dissociate in water. If yes, then it will have a van't Hoff factor greater than 1. If not, we take the factor to be 1. In your example, glucose does not ionize or dissociate in water, so has a van't Hoff factor = 1. Most organic compounds will have a factor of 1 but of course, there are exceptions.