Elaine writes:
An electrolyte broadly means that if you put it in a solution, it will divide and one half will carry a negative charge and the other a positive charge. For example, salt is sodium chloride and when put into a solution, divides into positively charged sodium and negatively charged chloride ions. The most important electrolytes in the body (and when we talk about the body, we talk on the cellular level) are potassium, magnesium, phosphate, sulfate, bicarbonate and small quantities of sodium and chloride. Each of the above substances exist in the watery parts of the cell (the protoplasm) and provide a charged particle of sodium (for example) which are absolutely essential for cellular reactions.

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