Precipitation Reactions
A precipitation reaction is a reaction in which soluble ions in separate solutions are
mixed together to form an insoluble compound that settles out of solution as a solid. That
insoluble compound is called a precipitate.
Solubility Rules for Ionic Compounds
Solubility rules are useful summaries of information about which ionic
compounds (or combinations of ions) are soluble in water and which are not. They are also
important tools for making predictions about whether certain ions will
react with one another to form a precipitate. In addition, they are useful for figuring
out what ions might be involved when a precipitation reaction has been observed.
You will be responsible for being able to use the
solubility rules to achieve the tasks listed above, although you will not
be responsible for memorizing the solubility rules.
In this section you will use solubility rules to predict
precipitation reactions and then write equations to represent
them.
