The dissolution of ammonium chloride in water is an endothermic process but still it dissolves in water readily. Why ?

Explanation

To understand why the dissolution of ammonium chloride (NH4Cl) in water is an endothermic process yet occurs readily, we can break down the explanation into several steps:

### Step 1: Understanding the Dissolution Process
When ammonium chloride (NH4Cl) is added to water, it dissociates into ammonium ions (NH4⁺) and chloride ions (Cl⁻). This can be represented as:
\[ \text{NH}_4\text{Cl (s)} \rightarrow \text{NH}_4^+ \text{(aq)} + \text{Cl}^- \text{(aq)} \]

### Step 2: Endothermic Nature of the Process
The dissolution of NH4Cl is classified as an endothermic process, which means that it absorbs heat from the surroundings. This is indicated by a positive change in enthalpy (ΔH > 0). The system requires energy to break the ionic bonds in the solid NH4Cl and to separate the ions.
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