In: Chemistry
1. What type of reaction is the following? Also use the solubility rules to identify whether AgCl or NaNO3 is the precipitate formed. AgNO3 (aq) + NaCl (aq) → AgCl + NaNO3
The more interesting product of this double displacement reaction is the CURDY WHITE PRECIPITATE of silver chloride that is insoluble in dilute nitric acid but soluble in aqueous ammonia (ammonium hydroxide).
NaCl(aq) + AgNO3 (aq) = AgCl(s) + NaNO3(aq)
The soluble sodium nitrate is the other product of the reaction.
This reaction is the first precipitation reaction a student normally comes across in inorganic salt analysis in the laboratory. When the given salt is a chloride, it would be converted to soluble NaCl by making the sodium carbonate extract. On acidification of the extract with dilute HNO3 followed by addition of AgNO3 solution, the chloride ions instantly get precipitated as the insoluble silver chloride, which is soluble in aqueous ammonia. Thus, this reaction is an important one for testing the presence of chloride ion in a given sample.
This precipitation reaction also provides an easy method for the determination of the amount of silver or chloride ions present in a given solution or sample in classical quantitative analysis. The precipitate of AgCl is filtered off, washed, dried and weighed for the purpose.