General Chemistry

Lecturer: Dr. Mohammad Ali Sahraei

Faculty of Engineering, Civil Engineering

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Reactions in Aqueous
Solution

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 Solutions

 Solution: A homogeneous mixture of two or more pure

substances.
• Solvent: substance present in the greatest quantity.
• Solute: substance dissolved in the solvent.
• Electrolyte: Substance whose aqueous solutions
contain ions (e.g. NaCl)
• Nonelectrolyte: Substance that does not form ions
in solution (e.g. C12H22O11)

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 Solutions
How does a Solute Dissolve in a Solvent?

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 Electrolytes

 A strong electrolyte dissociates completely when

dissolved in water.

 A weak electrolyte only dissociates partially when

dissolved in water

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 Precipitation Reactions
 A precipitation reaction involves the formation of an
insoluble product or products from the reaction of
soluble reactants. The solid is called a precipitate.

 Example: Mixing AgNO3 and LiCl, both of which are

soluble, produces insoluble AgCl.

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 Precipitation Reactions
 A precipitation reaction involves the formation of an
insoluble product or products from the reaction of
soluble reactants. The solid is called a precipitate.

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 Precipitation Reactions
 What insoluble compound, if any, will form when
solutions of and Na2SO4 are mixed?
 Use the followPb(NO3)2ing Table to determine if any of
the combinations is insoluble.

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 Spectator Ions
 A spectator ion is an ion that exists as a reactant and
a product in a chemical equation.

 In the complete ionic equation all strong electrolytes

(strong acids, strong bases, and soluble ionic salts) are
dissociated into their ions.

 This more accurately reflects the species that are found

in the reaction mixture.

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 Spectator Ions
 A spectator ion is an ion that exists as a reactant and
a product in a chemical equation.

 To form the net ionic equation, cross out anything that

does not change from the left side of the equation to the
right.

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 Spectator Ions

 The only things left in the equation are those things that
change (i.e., react) during the course of the reaction.

 Those things that didn’t change (and were deleted from

the net ionic equation) are called spectator ions.

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 Spectator Ions

 Example1: Find the spectator ions on the following

reaction;

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 Acids & Bases
 Acids: Substances that ionize in aqueous solution and
increase the concentration of H+ when dissolved in
water.

 Bases: Substances that increase the concentration of

OH− when dissolved in water. Substances do not have to
contain OH– to be a base.

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 Classification: Strong and Weak
 Strong acids completely dissociate in water, whereas
weak acids partially dissociate.

 Strong bases dissociate to metal cations and hydroxide

anions in water; weak bases only partially react to
produce hydroxide anions

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 Classification: Strong and Weak
 Strong acids completely dissociate in water, whereas
weak acids partially dissociate.

 Strong bases dissociate to metal cations and hydroxide

anions in water; weak bases only partially react to
produce hydroxide anions

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 Neutralization Reactions
 Generally, when solutions of an acid and a base are
combined, the products are a salt and water.

 Can be written as molecular, complete ionic, or net ionic

equations.

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Neutralization Reactions

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 Gas-Forming Reactions

 These reactions do not give the product expected for a

metathesis reaction.

 The expected product decomposes to give a gaseous

product (e.g. CO2 , SO2 , or H2S).

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 Oxidation-Reduction Reactions
 An oxidation occurs when an atom or ion loses
electrons.

 A reduction occurs when an atom or ion gains

electrons.

 One cannot occur without the other.

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 Oxidation Numbers

 To determine if an oxidation-reduction reaction has

occurred, we assign an oxidation number to each
element in a neutral compound or charged entity.
 The oxidation number may be a positive or negative
number.
 The sum of the oxidation numbers in a neutral
compound is 0.
 The sum of the oxidation numbers in a polyatomic ion is
the charge on the ion.
 An oxidation-reduction reaction is one in which some of
the elements change oxidation number during the course
of the reaction.
 In a balanced equation the sum of the changes in
oxidation numbers is zero.
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 Oxidation Numbers

 Example

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 Oxidation Numbers

 Example

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 Oxidation Numbers

 Example

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Oxidation Numbers

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 Molarity
 The molarity or molar concentration of a solute is
defined as the number of moles of solute per liter of
solution (not per liter of solvent!):

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 Molarity
 What is the molar concentration of NaF in a solution
prepared by dissolving 2.51 g of NaF in enough water to
form 200. mL of solution? (molecular weight of
NaF=41.98 (g/mol))

 Mol (NaF)= 2.51 (g)/41.98 (g/mol)=0.059 (mol)

 Molarity = 0.059 (mol)/(200/1000 (L)) =0.295 M

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