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18: Solubility and Complex-Ion Equilibria

  • Page ID
    11743
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    • 18.1: Solubility Product Constant, Ksp
      The equilibrium constant for a dissolution reaction, called the solubility product (Ksp), is a measure of the solubility of a compound. Whereas solubility is usually expressed in terms of mass of solute per 100 mL of solvent, Ksp is defined in terms of the molar concentrations of the component ions. In contrast, the ion product (Q) describes concentrations that are not necessarily equilibrium concentrations. Comparing Q and Ksp enables us to determine whether a precipitate will form.
    • 18.2: Relationship Between Solubility and Ksp
      Solubility is defined as the maximum amount of solute that can be dissolved in a solvent at equilibrium. Equilibrium is the state at which the concentrations of products and reactant are constant after the reaction has taken place. The solubility product constant describes the equilibrium between a solid and its constituent ions in a solution. The value of the constant identifies the degree to which the compound can dissociate in water. The higher the, the more soluble the compound is.
    • 18.3: Common-Ion Effect in Solubility Equilibria
      Adding a common cation or common anion to a solution of a sparingly soluble salt shifts the solubility equilibrium in the direction predicted by Le Châtelier’s principle. The solubility of the salt is almost always decreased by the presence of a common ion.
    • 18.4: Limitations of the Kₛₚ Concept
      The solubility constant, as with all equilibrium constants, are properly defined in terms of effective concentrations (activities) and the use of true concentrations to approximate activities in equilibrium constants can often fail. As with all approximations, it is important to understand the conditions that it will fail. three examples are discussed.
    • 18.5: Criteria for Precipitation and its Completeness
      A slightly soluble electrolyte begins to precipitate when the magnitude of the reaction quotient for the dissolution reaction exceeds the magnitude of the solubility product. Precipitation continues until the reaction quotient equals the solubility product. A reagent can be added to a solution of ions to allow one ion to selectively precipitate out of solution. The common ion effect can also play a role in precipitation reactions.
    • 18.6: Fractional Precipitation
      Formation of crystals from a saturated solution is a heterogeneous equilibrium phenomenon, and it can be applied to separate various chemicals or ions in a solution. When solubilities of two metal salts are very different, they can be separated by precipitation.
    • 18.7: Solubility and pH
      The anion in many sparingly soluble salts is the conjugate base of a weak acid. At low pH, protonation of the anion can dramatically increase the solubility of the salt. Oxides can be classified as acidic oxides or basic oxides. Acidic oxides either react with water to give an acidic solution or dissolve in strong base; most acidic oxides are nonmetal oxides or oxides of metals in high oxidation states.
    • 18.8: Equilibria Involving Complex Ions
      A complex ion is a species formed between a central metal ion and one or more surrounding ligands, molecules or ions that contain at least one lone pair of electrons. Small, highly charged metal ions have the greatest tendency to act as Lewis acids and form complex ions. The equilibrium constant for the formation of the complex ion is the formation constant (Kf). The formation of a complex ion by adding a complexing agent increases the solubility of a compound.
    • 18.9: Qualitative Cation Analysis
      In qualitative analysis, the identity, not the amount, of metal ions present in a mixture is determined. The technique consists of selectively precipitating only a few kinds of metal ions at a time under given sets of conditions. Consecutive precipitation steps become progressively less selective until almost all the metal ions are precipitated. Other additional steps are needed to separate metal ions that precipitate together.


    18: Solubility and Complex-Ion Equilibria is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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