2.7.

7 Prepare an Insoluble Salt

Prepare an Insoluble Salt

 Insoluble salts can be prepared using a precipitation reaction
 The solid salt obtained is the precipitate, thus in order to successfully use this method
the solid salt being formed must be insoluble in water
 The preparation of a soluble salt follows this pattern:

soluble salt 1 + soluble salt 2 ⟶  insoluble salt + soluble salt 3

AB + CD ⟶ AD + CB

 The method involves measuring out a fixed volume of one solution and then adding
the second salt solution until it is in a slight excess
o This ensures the maximum amount of precipitate will be obtained
 The precipitate is recovered by filtration and then it must be washed with distilled
water remove reactants that are contaminating the residue (recovered solid)
o It is then left to dry
 This method is a good way to prepare silver and lead(II) salts which are often
insoluble; the starting material will usually be the nitrate of silver or lead(II) since all
nitrates are soluble

Exam Tip
This reaction is also known as a double decomposition reaction.