Ionic Equilibria Flashcards
What is a Solution?
This is a homogeneous mixture of two or more substances.
Example sentence: A saltwater solution is a mixture of salt and water.
What is an Unsaturated solution?
This is a solution that can still dissolve more solute at a fixed temperature.
Additional information: Unsaturated solutions are commonly used in chemistry experiments.
Define a Saturated solution
This is a solution that can dissolve no more solute at a fixed temperature.
Example sentence: When no more sugar can dissolve in a cup of tea, it is a saturated solution.
What is a Super saturated solution?
This is a solution that has dissolved more solute than it can hold at a particular temperature.
Additional information: Super saturated solutions are unstable and can crystallize easily.
Define Molarity
Molarity of a solution is the number of moles of solute that dissolve in sufficient solvent to make 1000cm3 (1dm3) of solution.
Example sentence: The molarity of a sugar solution is calculated based on the amount of sugar dissolved in water.
What is Solubility?
This is the amount of solute in moles required to saturate 1000g (1Kg) of solvent at a fixed temperature.
Additional information: Solubility is often expressed in units of moles per liter.
Describe the variation of solubility of with temperature
- Solubility of ionic compounds generally increases with increase in temperature
- Solubility of gases decreases with increase in temperature
What factors affect solubility of an ionic compound at a constant temperature
- Lattice energy
- Hydration energy.
Give factors affecting solubility of an ionic compound
• Temperature change
• Presence of a common ion
• Complex ion formation
Define Solubility product
This is the product of the molar concentrations of the ions of a saturated solution of a sparingly soluble ionic compound each raised to its appropriate stoichiometric co-efficient.
Example sentence: The solubility product of silver chloride is calculated based on the concentrations of silver and chloride ions in the solution.
State how the value of Ksp is affected by temperature
It is constant at a constant temperature and increases with increase in temperature.
What will occur in a solution in which KSP > [Pb2+ ][Cl− ]2 ?
Solution is not saturated and more salt can still dissolve in it
What will occur in a solution in which KSP = [Pb2+ ][Cl− ]2?
Solution is saturated and addition of a solution with a common ion (either Pb2+ or Cl- ions) will lead to precipitation of the salt (PbCl2) from the solution.
What is a solution in which KSP < [Pb2+ ][Cl- ]2 called?
Supersaturated.
What is Common ion effect?
This is the reduction in the solubility of an ionic compound in water caused by the addition of a solution of a compound with a common ion.
State the application of solubility product
a) Gravimetric analysis e.g. the concentration of sodium sulphate can be determined by precipitating the sulphate ions as barium sulphate. After filtration the barium sulphate is washed with dilute sulphuric acid instead of water to avoid loss of some of the barium sulphate
b) Qualitative analysis
In inorganic qualitative analysis the identification of metal ions present in aqueous solutions involves the application of common ion effect. E.g. certain metal sulphides may not form in acidic conditions
c) Salting out effect
Soap, sodium stearate (sodium octadecanoate), C17H35CO2Na is precipitated out of solution by adding sodium chloride. The increased Na+ (common ion) causes the product [C17H35CO2-][Na+] to exceed the Ksp value of soap and thereby causing its precipitation.
(All the above are also applications of common ion effect)
d) Predicting precipitation
Solubility product enables chemists to predict the maximum concentration of ions of a solution. This way they are able to know whether a precipitate will or will not form
e) Selective precipitation
This involves taking advantage of the different solubilities of different salts as means of separating them e.g. a solution of barium chloride and magnesium chloride can be separated by adding potassium chromate solution forming magnesium chromate and barium chromate. Barium chromate is insoluble in water and can be removed by filtration
f) Complex ion formation
The concept of solubility product can be used to explain complex ion formation by sparingly soluble compounds when some other reagents are added to them.
Describe the use of potassium chromate in silver nitrate solution titration
- This is one of the applications of selective precipitation.
- In silver nitrate titrations, potassium chromate is used to serve as the indicator.
- When silver nitrate solution is titrated with an aqueous solution of chloride ions containing a little potassium chromate, only silver chloride is precipitated as a white solid as long as there are still chloride ions in the solution.
- A red precipitate of silver chromate only forms when all the chloride ions have been precipitated out of the solution.
- This serves as the endpoint of the titration.
State the factors affecting solubility
- Temperature change
- Addition of a common ion
- Complex ion formation
What are the methods of determination of solubility product?
- Conductivity measurements
- Electrochemical cell e.m.f measurements
- Titration method
Describe an experiment to determine the solubility product of calcium iodate, Ca(IO3)2
- To a known volume of distilled water of in a glass bottle and its temperature T determined using a thermometer.
- To the water a large excess of calcium iodate is added, the bottle stoppered and the mixture vigorously shaken until no more salt dissolves.
- The mixture is left to stand for an hour for the
What are the methods used to determine solubility product?
Conductivity measurements
Electrochemical cell e.m.f measurements
Titration method
Describe the experiment to determine the solubility product of calcium iodate, Ca(IO3)2.
To a known volume of distilled water in a glass bottle and its temperature T determined using a thermometer.
To the water a large excess of calcium iodate is added, the bottle stoppered and the mixture vigorously shaken until no more salt dissolves.
The mixture is left to stand for an hour for the equilibrium to be established between the calcium iodate and its ions.
The mixture is then carefully filtered to obtain a saturated solution of calcium iodate at temperature T.
The electrical conductivity, K of the saturated solution is measured using a conductometer.
The molar conductivity at infinite dilution of calcium and iodate ions are obtained from tables and they are used to calculate the molar conductivity at infinite dilution of calcium iodate as follows: Λ∞ Ca(IO3)2 = Λ∞ Ca2+ + 2(Λ∞ IO3-)
Example: Λ∞ Ca2+ = 150 S cm2 mol-1, Λ∞ IO3- = 120 S cm2 mol-1
Explain why Lead (II) chloride is only sparingly soluble in cold water, even less soluble in dilute hydrochloric acid but readily dissolves in concentrated hydrochloric acid?
Lead(II) chloride is sparingly soluble in water its hydration energy is not high enough to offset its high lattice energy.
In dilute hydrochloric acid the solubility decreases due to the common ion effect of the chloride ions from dilute hydrochloric acid which shifts the equilibrium of lead(II) chloride to the left causing more precipitation of lead(II) Chloride out of solution.
In concentrated hydrochloric acid, the lead(II) chloride reacts with the high concentration of chloride ions from the acid forming a soluble complex of tetrachloroplumbate(II).
Example: PbCl2(s) + 2Cl-(aq) ⇌ PbCl4^2-(aq)
Explain why Calcium phosphate is only slightly soluble in water but readily dissolves in dilute hydrochloric acid?
Calcium phosphate is sparingly soluble in water its hydration energy is not high enough to offset its high lattice energy.
In dilute hydrochloric acid, the hydrogen ions from the acid react with phosphate ions from the calcium phosphate forming phosphoric acid, a weak acid which largely exist as molecules in solution.
Example: Ca3(PO4)2(s) + 6HCl(aq) → 6Cl-(aq) + 6H+(aq) + 2H3PO4(aq)
Explain why Silver chloride is only slightly soluble in water, less soluble in dilute hydrochloric acid but readily dissolves in excess ammonia solution?
Silver chloride is sparingly soluble in water its hydration energy is not high enough to offset its high lattice energy.
In dilute hydrochloric acid the solubility decreases due to the common ion effect caused by the chloride ions from dilute hydrochloric acid which shifts the equilibrium of silver chloride from right to the left causing more precipitation of silver chloride out of solution.
In ammonia solution, the silver ions from silver nitrate react with ammonia molecules forming a soluble complex of silver(I) diammine.
Example: AgCl(s) + 2NH3(aq) → Ag(NH3)2+(aq)
Why is Copper(II) hydroxide insoluble in water but readily dissolves in excess ammonia?
Copper(II) hydroxide is insoluble in water because its hydration energy is not high enough to offset its lattice energy.
In ammonia solution, the copper(II) ions from copper(II) hydroxide react with ammonia molecules forming a soluble complex of tetraamminecopper(II) ions. This reduces the concentration of copper(II) ions and shifts the equilibrium of copper(II) hydroxide from the left to right causing more copper(II) hydroxide to dissolve and ionise. The copper(II) ions are removed by ammonia molecules as soon as they form causing all the copper(II) hydroxide to dissolve if there is enough ammonia solution.
What assumption in made in the ionic product of water?
Water is a pure liquid and is in large excess meaning that its concentration remains constant and not included in the Kw expression.
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Define ionic product of water
The ionic product of water, Kw is the product of the molar concentrations of the hydronium and hydroxide ions from self-ionization of water.
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