- #1
broegger
- 257
- 0
Hi,
I'm doing this chemistry report, and I have absolutely no experience in chemistry.
We have this solution containg (among some other stuff) Ba^2+, Sr^2+ and Ca^2+ ions along with SO4^2-ions in excess. Now we add some Na2CO3 to transform the sulphates to carbonates. They ask me these questions:
1) Write the reaction equations for this transformation. My guess is:
and so on.
2) Is the solution acid or basic in this reaction? Since CO3^2- is a weaker base than SO4^2-, I would say that the answer is basic.
3) Calculate the equilibrium constants by using the solubility products. Ok, here I start by writing the equilibrium equation:
This should be valid for both the Ba-, Sr- and Ca-case. But this doesn't make sense, since the constants should be different. What am I missing here?
4) Explain why BaSO4 reacts to form BaCO3 even though BaSO4 is sparingly soluble (I hope this is the phrase) to a higher degree than BaCO3. I'm lost at sea here.
I'm doing this chemistry report, and I have absolutely no experience in chemistry.
We have this solution containg (among some other stuff) Ba^2+, Sr^2+ and Ca^2+ ions along with SO4^2-ions in excess. Now we add some Na2CO3 to transform the sulphates to carbonates. They ask me these questions:
1) Write the reaction equations for this transformation. My guess is:
BaSO4(s) + CO3^2-(aq) --> BaCO3(s) + SO4^2-(aq)
and so on.
2) Is the solution acid or basic in this reaction? Since CO3^2- is a weaker base than SO4^2-, I would say that the answer is basic.
3) Calculate the equilibrium constants by using the solubility products. Ok, here I start by writing the equilibrium equation:
[tex]K=\frac{[{\text{SO}_4}^{2-}]_{eq}}{[{\text{CO}_3}^{2-}]_{eq}}[/tex]
This should be valid for both the Ba-, Sr- and Ca-case. But this doesn't make sense, since the constants should be different. What am I missing here?
4) Explain why BaSO4 reacts to form BaCO3 even though BaSO4 is sparingly soluble (I hope this is the phrase) to a higher degree than BaCO3. I'm lost at sea here.