Suppose that for the preparation of a stock solution of borax, the solid borax reagent is contaminated with a water-soluble substance that does not react with hydrochloric acid and does not have an ion in common with borax. How will this contamination affect the calculated solubility product of borax according to the experimental procedure? Explain.
Borax forms the soluble species [B4O4(OH)4]2- in solution which reacts with HCl on 1:2 molar ratio. The solubility product constant of borax is given by the expression
Ksp = 4[B4O5(OH)42-]3 where the term in square braces denote molar solubility.
If borax is contaminated with an impurity which doesn’t react with HCl, then the concentration of [B4O5(OH)4]2- will be calculated low, since a lower volume of a standard HCl is required for the neutralization reaction. Therefore, the calculated molar solubility of [B4O5(OH)4]2- will be low and consequently, the calculated solubility product constant, Ksp will be low.
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