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SOLUBILITY PRODUCT

CALCULATIONS
This page is a brief introduction to solubility product calculations.
These are covered in more detail in my chemistry calculations
book.

Calculating solubility products from solubilities


I am going to assume that you are given the solubility of an ionic
compound in mol dm-3. If it was in g dm-3, or any other
concentration units, you would first have to convert it into mol dm-3.
Example 1
The solubility of barium sulphate at 298 K is 1.05 x 10-5 mol dm-3.
Calculate the solubility product.
The equilibrium is:

Notice that each mole of barium sulphate dissolves to give 1 mole


of barium ions and 1 mole of sulphate ions in solution.
That means that:

[Ba2+] = 1.05 x 10-5 mol dm-3


[SO42-] = 1.05 x 10-5 mol dm-3
All you need to do now is to put these values into the solubility
product expression, and do the simple sum.

Don't forget to work the units out.


Important: Get your calculator and work this out! Students
frequently mis-enter numbers like 1.05 x 10-5. If you try this
sum, and get a different answer, then you are probably
misusing the EXP button. To enter this number, you would
enter 1.05, press the EXP button, and then enter -5 (probably
by entering 5 and then pressing the +/- button). People often
try to enter x 10 in the middle of this process as well. The
EXP button includes this.

Example 2
These calculations are very simple if you have a compound in
which the numbers of positive and negative ions are 1 : 1. This
next example shows you how to cope if the ratio is different.
The solubility of magnesium hydroxide at 298 K is 1.71 x 10-4 mol
dm-3. Calculate the solubility product.
The equilibrium is:

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For every mole of magnesium hydroxide that dissolves, you will get
one mole of magnesium ions, but twice that number of hydroxide
ions.
So the concentration of the dissolved magnesium ions is the same
as the dissolved magnesium hydroxide:

[Mg2+] = 1.71 x 10-4 mol dm-3


The concentration of dissolved hydroxide ions is twice that:

[OH-] = 2 x 1.71 x 10-4 = 3.42 x 10-4 mol dm-3


Now put these numbers into the solubility product expression and
do the sum.

Calculating solubilities from solubility products


Reversing the sums we have been doing isn't difficult as long as
you know how to start. We will take the magnesium hydroxide
example as above, but this time start from the solubility product
and work back to the solubility.
If the solubility product of magnesium hydroxide is 2.00 x 10-11
mol3 dm-9 at 298 K, calculate its solubility in mol dm-3 at that
temperature.

The trick this time is to give the unknown solubility a symbol like x
or s. I'm going to choose s, because an x looks too much like a
multiplication sign.
If the concentration of dissolved magnesium hydroxide is s mol
dm-3, then:

[Mg2+] = s mol dm-3


[OH-] = 2s mol dm-3
Put these values into the solubility product expression, and do the
sum.

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Note: This is where you might need to find your calculator


instruction book! With a bit of luck, you will find a button for
cube roots, and this will enable you to do sums with
compounds like magnesium hydroxide with a formula AB2 or
A2B.
Anything more complicated than this would need you to be
able to find 4th or 5th roots. It would be a good idea to find
out how your calculator does this.
Mine has an x1/y button. You would need to practice using
this or something similar. On my calculator, to find fourth root
of 16 using this button, you would have the number 16 in the
display, press the x1/y button, enter 4 (for 4th root) and then
press equals. If you have done it right, you should get an
answer of 2.

Questions to test your understanding


If this is the first set of questions you have done, please read the
introductory page before you start. You will need to use the BACK BUTTON
on your browser to come back here afterwards.
questions on basic solubility product calculations
answers

Where would you like to go now?


To the solubility product menu . . .
To the Physical Chemistry menu . . .
To Main Menu . . .

Jim Clark 2011 (modified November 2013)

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