Why can salt and sugar both dissolve in water, even though one is ionic and the other is covalent?

Explanation:

The water molecules, , are polar, with positive partial charges on the hydrogen and a negative partial charge on the oxygen. This makes it possible to interact with ionic compounds such as salt (NaCl). This interaction occurs through the partially positive and negative ends of the water, so that the positive charges attract the negative ones. The NaCl salt in water dissociates (separates) into and ions. ions are surrounded by negative partial charges of water oxygen, while ions are surrounded by hydrogen ends with positive partial charge. In this way the salt is dissolved in water.

Sugar is a molecular compound formed by covalent bonds. In a polar covalent bond, electrons are shared unevenly. This creates a slightly negatively charged end and a slightly positively charged end. This is what happens with sugar. These extremes are those that interact with the positive and negative extremes of water, mentioned previously. Then it is possible to say that sugar dissolves in water because both substances are polar substances.

In short, water dissolves most of the substances that are polar or ionic, as in the case of sugar and salt.