Question

AgCl is a sparingly soluble salt with Ksp = 1.8×10−10. Which change below will make a saturated solution of AgCl in water more soluble?

A)Add in some HCl, becuase it is a strong acid.

B)Add in some solid NaBr because AgBr has Ksp = 5.0×10−13 .

C)Add in some solid CuNO3 because CuCl has Ksp = 1.9×10−7 .

D)Add in some NaOH becuase it is a strong base.

E)None of the above

Answer 1

Solubility product is an indication of extent of solubility of component in water. So lower the KSp value, lower the solubility of the salt in water.

When another salt which is having more solubility product is dissolved, that gets precipiated first and the original solution ( in this case AgCl) remains in the solution.

so addition of NaBr increases the solubility of AgCl in water.

since both HCl and NaOH are highly soluble in water, the AgCl does not dissolve as long as all the HCl or NaOH are in solution. CuCl has more KSp than AgCl. So dissolves prefertentillay than AgCl.