How to Calculate the Solubility of Silver Chloride
Solubility measures a substance's ability to dissolve in a solvent, such as water. Solubility typically varies depending on temperature and can also vary depending on pH. When calculating solubility, you'll need the solubility product constant, or Ksp; Usually, given Ksp constants are at 25 degrees Celsius, or room temperature, and are always measured in moles. You can easily calculate the solubility of silver cholride by following the basic formula.
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Things You'll Need
- Solubility product constant for silver chloride
- Calculator
- Pencil
- Paper
Instructions
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Write out the solubility product formula. When silver chloride dissolves, it dissociates into silver, or Ag+, and chloride, or Cl-, ions. The Ksp is equal to the product of the concentration of these two ions in solution. The formula is: Ksp = [Ag+][Cl-]--meaning that the Ksp equals the concentration of the silver ions multiplied by the concentration of the chloride ions, as measured in moles per liter.
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Determine whether any silver or chloride ions are already present in the solution for the problem you want to solve. If you are trying to dissolve silver chloride in a salt water solution, for example, the salt will dissociate in the water to yield sodium and chloride ions; If silver or chloride ions are present, substitute the concentration of the ion present for the appropriate term in the equation in the first step. For example, in a 0.1 molar solution of sodium chloride you would substitute 0.1 for the concentration of the chloride ions.
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Substitute x for any remaining terms in the equation. If neither silver nor chloride ions were present, the equation will be x squared equals Ksp.
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Solve for x. The number you find will be the molar solubility of silver chloride in the solution.
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Tips & Warnings
While these calculations are similar to those for other ionic compounds, it's important to note that there are also several differences. Silver chloride is an especially simple example because each formula unit of silver chloride dissociates to yield only 1 silver and 1 chloride ion. Moreover, changes in pH should have a more negligible effect on the solubility of silver chloride than on the solubility of a salt like magnesium hydroxide or calcium phosphate, since phosphate ions and hydroxide ions are stronger bases than chloride ions and thus better able to accept hydrogen ions.
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