In: Chemistry
Which statement about Coprecipitation is correct?
Gravimetric analysis ideally involves the full precipitation, isolation, and mass measurement of a pure substance. A potential difficulty is coprecipitation, which involves:
incomplete separation of two substances because the more soluble substance begins to precipitate before the less soluble substance has fully precipitated.
inclusion, in a precipitate, of some normally soluble material along with the insoluble substance.
the simultaneous precipitation of two insoluble substances from the same solution.
the precipitation of an insoluble substance from the combination of two independently soluble species.
Coprecipitation is precipitation of soluble substance with the insoluble substance, may be due to electrostatic attraction or lattice stability or similarity of ion size/charge.
There main mechanisms of coprecipitation are inclusion, occlusion, and adsorption.
Inclusion occurs due to similarity of ion size/charge and here impurity occupies lattice sites.
Occlusion is physically trapping of ions inside the precipitate.
Adsorption occurs due to electrostatic attraction and salt is adsorbed at surface of precipitate.
Coprecipitation can be avoided by slow precipitation.
Hence the right statement about coprecipitation is: Inclusion, in a precipitate of normally soluble material along with insoluble substance.