PHY 121 Study Guide - Imerys, Sodium Chloride, Ammonia
Document Summary
The purpose of this investigation is to identify specific aqueous metal cations in an unknown sample. The classic method for this kind of identification is to separate the cations based on their different solubilities when paired with a variety of anions. You will exploit the varying solubility of these ionic compounds (metal cation + anion) to preferentially precipitate each cation as an insoluble solid. Recall from chm 113, that when ionically bonded compounds dissolve in water, they dissociate into cations and anions. However, all ionic compounds are not equally soluble. (you studied this in depth in chapter 17 in the section dealing with ksp values of ionic solids. ) In this investigation you will develop a scheme to exploit these differences in solubilities to separate a mixture of aqueous metal cations. This gives a very good review of ionic compound precipitation reactions and covers basic solubility rules.
