Question

In which one of the following solutions is silver chloride themost soluble?

A. 0.744 M LiNO₃

B. 0.0176 M NH₃

C. 0.181 M HCl

D. 0.181 M NaCl

E. pure water

 

Answer 1

B)

C and D have the common ion Cl-

A and E are similar; ideally they have no effect on silver chlorideother than the intrinsic solubility of AgCl in water. (LiNO3 doesnot interact with Ag+ or Cl-

But NH3 can coordinate with Ag+ ions. So as soon as 1 AgCldissolves, the resulting Ag+ is stolen to form a Ag(NH3)2 complex.This draws out more Ag+ to come into solution, simultaneouslyresulting in more AgCl dissolving

AgCl(s) <--> Ag+(aq) + Cl-(aq) --(1)
Ag+(aq) + 2NH3(aq) <-->[Ag(NH3)2]+ (aq) --(2)