Question #6615d

1 Answer
Ernest Z.
Jun 13, 2017

Here's my explanation.

Explanation:

The hydrogen carbonate ion, #"HCO"_3^"-"#, does not exist by itself.

It must be paired with a positive ion such as #"Na"^"+"# or #"NH"_4^"+"#.

So, we can have compounds like #"NaHCO"_3# and #"NH"_4"HCO"_3#, and they are all solids at room temperature.

However, in aqueous solution, the ions separate from each other, as in

#"NaHCO"_3"(s)" → "Na"^"+""(aq)" + "HCO"_3^"-""(aq)"#

I suppose you would say that in this case the hydrogen carbonate ion is in an "aqueous" state.

Related questions
See all questions in Phases of Matter
Impact of this question
1703 views around the world
You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License