∞ generated and posted on 2022.02.03 ∞
Separation of ions, as previously held together by ionic bonds, during the course of dissolving into solution.
For salts that do not readily dissociate, solubility can be substantially curtailed, such as into aqueous solutions. Alternatively, readily dissociating salts can be highly soluble, such as in water.
Dissociation is not the equivalent of ionization because dissociation represents the separation of ions that in fact have already formed rather than the formation of those ions, i.e., where the latter (formation of ions) but not the former (dissociation) is what 'ionization' describes.
Note that dissociation can also be spelled as disassociation.