Will a precipitate form when we micx Ca(NO3)2(aq) with NaOH(aq) if the concentrations after mixing are both 0.0175M?
1 Answer
Possibly no.
Explanation:
The idea here is that calcium nitrate,
Both calcium nitrate and sodium hydroxide are soluble salts, so they will dissociate completely in aqueous solution to form
"Ca"("NO"_3)_text(2(aq]) -> "Ca"_text((aq])^(2+) + 2"NO"_text(3(aq])^(-)
"NaOH"_text((aq]) -> "Na"_text((aq])^(+) + "OH"_text((aq])^(-)
This means that the concentrations of the calcium cations and hydroxide anions will be
["Ca"^(2+)] = 1 xx ["Ca"("NO"_3)_2] -> one mole of calcium nitrate produces one mole of calcium cations
["OH"^(-)] = 1 xx ["NaOH"] -> one mole of sodium hydroxide produces one mole of hydroxide anions
The overall balanced equation for this double replacement reaction is
"Ca"("NO"_3)_text(2(aq]) + color(red)(2)"NaOH"_text((aq]) -> "Ca"("OH")_text(2(s]) darr + 2"NaNO"_text(3(aq])
The complete ionic equation will look like this
"Ca"_text((aq])^(2+) + 2"NO"_text(3(aq])^(-) + color(red)(2)"Na"_text((aq])^(+) + color(red)(2)"OH"_text((aq])^(-) -> "Ca"("OH")_text(2(s]) darr + 2"Na"_text((aq])^(+) + 2"NO"_text(3(aq])^(-)
The net ionic equation, for which spectator ions are eliminated, will be
"Ca"_text((aq])^(2+) + color(red)(2)"OH"_text((aq])^(-) -> "Ca"("OH")_text(2(s]) darr
Now, the solubility product constant,
K_(sp) = 5.5 * 10^(-6)
http://bilbo.chm.uri.edu/CHM112/tables/KspTable.htm
By definition, the solubility product constant, is defined as
K_(sp) = ["Ca"^(2+)] * ["OH"^(-)]^color(red)(2)
In order to determine whether or not a precipitate is formed, you need to calculate the ion product,
More specifically, you need to have
color(blue)(Q_(sp) > K_(sp)) -> a precipitate is formed**
The ion product takes the exact same form as the solubility ion product, with the important difference that it does not use equilibrium concentrations.
Q_(sp) = ["Ca"^(2+)] * ["OH"^(-)]^color(red)(2)
Plug in your values to get - I'll skip the units for the sake of simplicity
Q_(sp) = 0.0175 * (0.0175)^color(red)(2)
Q_(sp) = 5.36 * 10^(-6)
Since this inequality
Q_(sp) color(red)(cancel(color(black)(>))) K_(sp)
is not valid, a precipitate will not form when you mix those two solutions.
Mind you, the answer depends on the value for