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Chapter 17.0: Introduction

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    42135
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    Prince George's Community College
    General Chemistry for Engineering
    CHM 2000

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    Unit I: Atoms      Unit II: Molecules     Unit III: States of Matter     Unit IV: Reactions     Unit V: Kinetics & Equilibrium
    Unit VI: Thermo & Electrochemistry
         Unit VII: Nuclear Chemistry

    Although Chapter 16 focused exclusively on acid–base equilibriums in aqueous solutions, equilibrium concepts can also be applied to many other kinds of reactions that occur in aqueous solution. In this chapter, we describe the equilibriums involved in the solubility of ionic compounds and the formation of complex ions.

    Solubility equilibriums involving ionic compounds are important in fields as diverse as medicine, biology, geology, and industrial chemistry. Carefully controlled precipitation reactions of calcium salts, for example, are used by many organisms to produce structural materials, such as bone and the shells that surround mollusks and bird eggs. In contrast, uncontrolled precipitation reactions of calcium salts are partially or wholly responsible for the formation of scale in coffee makers and boilers, “bathtub rings,” and kidney stones, which can be excruciatingly painful. The principles discussed in this chapter will enable you to understand how these apparently diverse phenomena are related. Solubility equilibriums are also responsible for the formation of caves and their striking features, such as stalactites and stalagmites, through a long process involving the repeated dissolution and precipitation of calcium carbonate. In addition to all of these phenomena, by the end of this chapter you will understand why barium sulfate is ideally suited for x-ray imaging of the digestive tract, and why soluble complexes of gadolinium can be used for imaging soft tissue and blood vessels using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), even though most simple salts of both metals are toxic to humans.

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    Scanning electron micrograph of kettle scale. Hard water is a solution that consists largely of calcium and magnesium carbonate in CO2-rich water. When the water is heated, CO2 gas is released, and the carbonate salts precipitate from solution and produce a solid called scale.

    Contributors

    • Anonymous

    Modified by Joshua B. Halpern


    Chapter 17.0: Introduction is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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