SOLUBILITY EQUILIBRIUM OF CALCIUM HYDROXIDE

E.P. MUNCAL AND R.B. PINEDA

DEPARTMENT OF FOOD SCIENCE AND NUTRITION, COLLEGE OF HOME ECONOMICS
UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES, DILIMAN, QUEZON CITY, PHILIPPINES
DATE PERFORMED: O

ABSTRACT
Calcium Hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) is a salt that is sparingly soluble. In this
experiment, molar solubility of this salt was observed and calculated obtaining
data from titration. After the collection of molar solubility, the K sp was calculated
with the use of the [OH-] and [Ca2+] in the aliquot after being titrated. The media,
where temperature was observed, was used to construct a Vamt Hoff plot which
yielded a function which is y = 4135.6x - 24.946 with an r2 of 0.8238. With this, a
Ksp of 1.560x10-5 was calculated at 298 K. Comparing it to the literature value for
Ksp Ca(OH)2 which is 5.5x10-6, it yielded a percent error of 83.4%.the Using this
function also, the enthalpy ( H) and entropy (S) of the salt was calculated which
yielded a result of 34.38 kJ/mol and -207.4 j/mol*K respectively, each having the
percent error of 104.3%( H) and 148.7% (S).
be contextualized by the equilibrium
constant for reactions like these.

INTRODUCTION
A solution is a homogeneous mixture
that has no visible components in it1.
Deconstructing a solution shows its
two main components: solvent and
solute. Solvent is a dissolving
substance and solute is the thing that
dissolves in a solvent1. Salt is an
example of a solute, which forms due
to the reaction of an Arrhenius acid
and base1. A kind of salt that partially
dissociate in water is a sparingly
soluble salt.

A x By (s) x A y+ (aq)+y Bx- (aq)

(1)

The chemical equation above shows

the ionization of a sparingly soluble
salt in water. It also shows that the
salt ionizes partially in water to attain
equilibrium between the salt and its
ions. The degree of its solubility can

The solubility of this salt can be

determined by the concentration of
the ions present in it using the
formula to get the solubility product
constant.

K sp=[A y+ ] x [Bx- ]y
Where
Ksp=
Constant

(2)
Solubility

Product

[A y+ ] , [Bx- ] =
Concentration, in M
x,y= coefficient in the reaction

Ksp , the solubility product constant, is

the constant for the established
equilibrium between the solute and
the ions present in a saturated
solution. This constant can be affected

by the temperature condition of a

solution.

lnK= -

H S
+
RT R

(3)

Where H= enthalpy, kJ/mol

R= gas constant, 8.314 j/mol*K
S= entropy, J/mol*K
T= temperature, K
The equation shows that the Ksp of a
substance varies with the
temperature. Changing the
temperature can cause the solubility
constant of a substance to change.
Other Factors Affecting Solubility.
Oher than temperature, there are also
some factors that affects the solubility
of a substance. It includes the
presence of common ions and diverse
ions and change in solvent polarity.
The presence of common ions
affecting the solubility of a substance
is can be understand by the Le
Chateliers principle. The presence of
the ions that are the same with the
ions presence in the dissociation of a
substance affects the amount of salt
and ions at equilibrium making the
reaction to shift forward or reverse.
However, the presence of the diverse
ion increases the solubility. It tends to
increase the solubility because it
requires more ions from the salt to
attain equilibrium2. It is commonly
known as salt effect.
The solvent polarity generally affects
solubility as well. It often shows that a
polar solvent can only dissolve polar
solutes as well as nonpolar solvent

and solute1. It generally follows a

principle that like dissolves like.

METHODOLOGY
The media, where Calcium hydroxide
(Ca(OH)2)
was
dissolved,
was
prepared in a 250-mL beaker. The
components and condition of the
media was specified in table 1.
Media
A

Solution
Condition
50 mL
Room
distilled
temperatu
H2 O
re
B
50 mL
Heated
distilled
H2 O
C
50 mL
In cold
distilled
water bath
H2 O
D
50 mL
Room
0.10 M
Temperatu
CaCl2
re
E
50 mL
Room
0.50 M
temperatu
KCl
re
F
45 mL
Room
distilled
temperatu
H2O+ 5
re
mL 95%
ethanol
Table 1. Media where Ca(OH)2 is to be
dissolved
The temperature for media A, B, and
C were recorded before adding
Ca(OH)2.
Calcium hydroxide was added to the
media while stirring vigorously until it
was saturated. The deposition of the
solid compound at the bottom of the
beaker indicated that the solution was
already saturated. The solution was

continuously stirred for 5 minutes and

was left to settle for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, the suspension was
filtered. Media B and C was
transferred into an Erlenmeyer flask
with the same temperature as the
media.
A 25 mL aliquot of the filtrate from
each media was transferred to a 125mL Erlenmeyer flask. Then, 3 drops of
1% phenolphthalein was added to
each flask. The filtrate was titrated
with 0.10 M HCl until the solution
changes color from intense pink to
colorless. The volume of the titrant
was
recorded.
Titration
was
conducted for all media twice.

gathered from these three mediums

were plotted in a graph of the lnK
versus 1/T where the temperature is
in Kelvin

lnK vs 1/T
-9.5
-100
-10.5
-11
-11.5
-12
-12.5
-13

f(x) = 4135.56x - 24.95

R = 0.82

Table 3. Linear plot of lnKsp vs 1/T of

Media A, B and C

The plot garnered an equation y =

4135.6x - 24.946. This function can
be used to calculate the solubility of
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Ca(OH)2 at 298 K. The calculated
solubility constant was 1.560x10-5.
The table below shows the result of
Comparing it to the literature value
the experiment conducted.
for Ksp Ca(OH)2 which is 5.5x10-6, it
yielded a percent
Table
2.
Volu
Conc Conc Molar Ksp
error of 83.4%.
Calculated
me of entra entra Solubi
results from the
Titra tion
tion
lity
The plot can also
experiment.
nt
of
of
be
used
to
used, OHCa2+
calculate
for
The
molar
in
enthalpy
of
solubility (s), as
mL
Ca(OH)2.
The
shown
in
the A 10.6
0.04
0.02
0.021 1.933x
enthalpy
table, is the same
5
26
13
3
10-5
calculated at 298
with
the B 6.45
0.02
0.01
0.012 4.293x
K is -10367 kJ/mol.
concentration of
58
29
9
10-6
When compared to
Ca2+.
It
is C 11.3
0.04
0.02
0.022 2.339x
the
literature
because
the
5
54
27
7
10-5
value
which
is
calcium cation is D 9.3
0.03
0.01
0.018 1.287x
-16.7 kJ/mol, it is
the
limiting
72
86
6
10-5
relatively
higher
reactant in the E 13.4
0.05
0.02
0.026 3.893x
than
the
reaction.
5
38
69
9
10-5
theoretical value.
F 16.1
0.03
0.01
0.016 8.822x
The intercept of
Media A,B, and C
28
64
4
10-6
the function is also
have
used in calculating the entropy of the
temperatures of 30, 49.5, and 12
reaction which has the value of -207.4
degrees Celsius respectively. The data

j/mol*K. The percent error of the

calculated entropy is 148.7%.
As shown in the table, media F which
has ethanol used up the largest
amount of titrant among all other
media. It shows how polarity affects
the solubility of Ca(OH)2 media F has
ethanol in it. Calcium hydroxide is
insoluble in ethanol. Even though an
ionic salt is neither polar nor
nonpolar, it is also a polyvalent salt
which is practically insoluble in
ethanol3. A polyvalent salt is has a
polyvalent ion which has a charge of
more than 1+.

The experiment showed how various

conditions and components of a media
affected the molar solubility of the
Ca(OH)2. At different circumstances,
the solubility of this salt has
differently expressed its dissociation
depending on the media used.
In the duration of the experiment, one
should carefully observe and follow
the procedure of the experiment.
Taking into account the idea of that as
we deprive from the right procedure,
the more we yield various results
which may hinder the assurance of a
correct data set.

In media D, there were Ca2+ already

present in the solution since there is a
0.10 M CaCl2 in it. Due to the common
ion effect which is guide by the Le
Chateliers principle, the reaction
forms more of the reactant to attain
equilibrium in the system. It is clearly
shown in the Table 2 that Ca(OH) 2 in
this media has a lower molar
solubility compared to the other
media
where
temperature
was
ambient or higher.

The experiment was done carefully

yet, due to the minor experience and
slightly
inferior
equipment
and
apparatuses, it yielded a large
percentage of error which lessens the
validity of the conducted experiment.
Nevertheless, the application and
practical techniques that one can
learn from this experiment is a
practice to become a better at
handling and conducting experiments
under a lab.

In media E, the presence of K+ and Clions gives the Ca(OH)2 a higher molar
solubility because of the diverse ion
effect or commonly known as salt
effect. Since there are other ions
present in the media which can
associate with each other, the amount
of the reactant/salt present will
dissociate into Ca2+ and OH-. A
decrease of reactants will push the
reaction to dissociate further to attain
equilibrium thus causing an increase
in the molar solubility.

Other direct recommendations on the

experiment
proper
like
when
saturating the media with Ca(OH)2,
one should not put the salt in
excessive amounts since the weight of
the salt to saturate the media is just
below one gram. When titrating the
aliquot, once the solution already
turned colorless it should not be
added another volume of the titrant to
avoid increase in the amount of titrant
used.
Solubility
of
a
substance/compound/salt
is
an
important knowledge to know since it
can be applied to almost any sector of
industry.
Learning
about
how

CONCLUSION

solubility is affected by many factors

can be a handy knowledge when
needed.
REFERENCES
[1]Silberberg, M.S. Principles of
General Chemistry. The McGraw-Hill
Companies, Avenue of the Americas,
New York. 2010.
[2]Petrucci,
R.,
et
al. General
Chemistry: Principles and Modern
Applications (10th ed.). Toronto, Ont:
Pearson Canada. 2011
[3]Brown, T., LeMay, H.E, et al.
Chemistry: The Central Science.
Pearson Education Inc., Glenview.
2012.

y = 4135.6 298
APPENDIX

- 24.946.

y= -11.6= e-11.6=1.560x10-5

Sample calculations

d)

H
=4135.6
RT

a)Media A
Vtitrant

10.5 mL +10.8 mL
2

10.65mL
[OH-]

e) S=(-24.946)(R)
S= -207.4 j/mol*K

( 0.1 M ) (10.65 mL )
25 mL

0.0426M
[Ca2+] = s =

H=(R)(4135.6)= -34.38 kJ/mol

0.0426 M
2

= 0.0213M

b) Ksp= [Ca2+][OH-]2
Ksp=(0.0213)(0.0426)2=1.933x10-5
c) y = 4135.6x - 24.946.