Paraphrasing Introduction

Intro:

The goal of this experiment was to make use of waste products of some common reactions, and create useful substances from these solutions. In order to do this, a basic knowledge of ionic compounds, acids, bases, and how these all react when combined was used. Ionic compounds are made up of two parts, cations and anions. Cations have a positive charge when dissociated in water, and anions have a negative charge associated with them. Together, the two create an ionic compound with a neutral charge. Acids and bases are examples of some ionic compounds. These compounds have a tendency to dissociate into their cation and anion when introduced to water. Strong acids, such as HCl, dissociate completely in water, as do strong bases. Weak acids and bases only partially dissociate, so their chemical reactions are two directional, and more of the compound stays in its original form than dissociates into cations and anions.

In this experiment, the goal was to be able to form precipitates using the chemical solutions provided to us. Using the solubility rules in the appendix of the lab manual, it was seen that NaCl, BaCO3, Mn(OH)2, and Al(OH)3 are all insoluble compounds. This means that when ionic compounds react and have any of these compounds as a product, they will fall out of solution and form a solid precipitate. Given the insolubility of these compounds and the chemical solutions that were given, the following chemical equations were found and used in creating the precipitates:

BaCl2(aq)+NaCO3(aq)BaCO3(s)+2NaCl(aq)

Mn(NO3)2(aq)+2NaOH(aq)Mn(OH)2(s)+2NaNO3(aq)

Al(NO3)3(aq)+3NaOH(aq)3NaNO3(aq)+Al(OH)3(s)

NaOH(aq)+HCl(aq)NaCl(aq)+H2O(l)

These balanced equations show visibly which compounds stayed dissociated in solution, and which compounds dropped out of solution to form a solid precipitate.