Gravimetric analysis and

precipitation gravimetry
Definition of precipitation gravimetry, and an example of using precipitation gravimetry to
determine the purity of a mixture containing two salts.
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What is precipitation gravimetry?

Precipitation gravimetry is an analytical technique that uses a precipitation
reaction to separate ions from a solution. The chemical that is added to
cause the precipitation is called the precipitant or precipitating agent. The
solid precipitate can be separated from the liquid components using
filtration, and the mass of the solid can be used along with the balanced
chemical equation to calculate the amount or concentration of ionic
compounds in solution. Sometimes you might hear people referring to
precipitation gravimetry simply as gravimetric analysis, which is a broader
class of analytical techniques that includes precipitation gravimetry and
volatilization gravimetry. If you want to read more about gravimetric
analysis in general, see this article on gravimetric analysis and
volatilization gravimetry.
[What is a precipitation reaction?]

In this article, we will go through an example of finding the amount of an

aqueous ionic compound using precipitation gravimetry. We will also
discuss some common sources of error in our experiment, because
sometimes in lab things don't go quite as expected and it can help to be
extra prepared!

From left to right, 3 different insoluble silver salts as precipitates in test-

tubes. On right, yellowish silver(I) iodide, middle is cream-colored silver(I)
bromide, and on right is white silver(I) chloride.
Soluble silver salts such as silver(I) nitrate can be used as precipitating agents to determine the amount of
halide ions present in a sample. Not only does the mass of the precipitate tell you about the concentration
of the halide ions in solution, the color is also distinctive for different silver salts. This picture shows test
tubes containing yellowish \text{AgI}AgIA, g, I (left), cream-colored \text{AgBr}AgBrA, g, B, r (middle),
and white \text{AgCl}AgClA, g, C, l (right) Photo of silver precipitates by Cychr from Wikipedia, CC BY
3.0

Example: Determining the purity of a mixture

containing \text{MgCl}_2MgCl2M, g, C, l,
start subscript, 2, end
subscript and \text{NaNO}_3NaNO3N, a,
N, O, start subscript, 3, end subscript
Oh no! Our sometimes less-than-helpful lab assistant Igor mixed up the
bottles of chemicals again. (In his defense, many white crystalline solids
look interchangeable, but that is why reading labels is important!)

As a result of the mishap, we have 0.7209 \,\text g0.7209g0, point, 7209,

space, g of a mysterious mixture containing \text{MgCl}_2MgCl2M, g, C,
l, start subscript, 2, end subscript and \text{NaNO}_3NaNO3N, a, N, O,
start subscript, 3, end subscript. We would like to know the relative
amount of each compound in our mixture, which is fully dissolved in
water. We add an excess of our precipitating agent silver(I)
nitrate, \text{AgNO}_3(aq)AgNO3(aq)A, g, N, O, start subscript, 3, end
subscript, left parenthesis, a, q, right parenthesis, and observe the
formation of a precipitate, \text{AgCl}(s)AgCl(s)A, g, C, l, left
parenthesis, s, right parenthesis. Once the precipitate is filtered and dried,
we find that the mass of the solid is 1.032 \,\text {g}1.032g1, point, 032,
space, g.

What is the mass percent of \text{MgCl}_2MgCl2M, g, C, l, start

subscript, 2, end subscript in the original mixture?

Any gravimetric analysis calculation is really just a stoichiometry problem

plus some extra steps. Since this is a stoichiometry problem, we will want
to start with a balanced chemical equation. Here we are interested in the
precipitation reaction between \text{MgCl}_2(aq)MgCl2(aq)M, g, C, l,
start subscript, 2, end subscript, left parenthesis, a, q, right
parenthesis and \text{AgNO}_3(aq)AgNO3(aq)A, g, N, O, start subscript,
3, end subscript, left parenthesis, a, q, right parenthesis to
make \text{AgCl}(s)AgCl(s)A, g, C, l, left parenthesis, s, right parenthesis,
when \text{AgNO}_3(aq)AgNO3(aq)A, g, N, O, start subscript, 3, end
subscript, left parenthesis, a, q, right parenthesis is in excess.
[What is stoichiometry again? ]

You might remember that precipitation reactions are a type of double

replacement reaction, which means we can predict the products by
swapping the anions (or cations) of the reactants. We might check our
solubility rules if necessary, and then balance the reaction. In this problem
we are already given the identity of the
precipitate, \text{AgCl}(s)AgCl(s)A, g, C, l, left parenthesis, s, right
parenthesis. That means we just have to identify the other
product, \text{Mg(NO}_3)_2(aq)Mg(NO3)2(aq)M, g, left parenthesis, N,
O, start subscript, 3, end subscript, right parenthesis, start subscript, 2, end
subscript, left parenthesis, a, q, right parenthesis, and make sure the overall
reaction is balanced. The resulting balanced chemical equation is:

\text{MgCl}_2(aq)+2\text{AgNO}_3(aq)
\rightarrow2\text{AgCl}(s)+\text{Mg(NO}_3)_2(aq)MgCl2
(aq)+2AgNO3(aq)→2AgCl(s)+Mg(NO3)2(aq)M, g, C, l, start
subscript, 2, end subscript, left parenthesis, a, q, right parenthesis, plus, 2,
A, g, N, O, start subscript, 3, end subscript, left parenthesis, a, q, right
parenthesis, right arrow, 2, A, g, C, l, left parenthesis, s, right parenthesis,
plus, M, g, left parenthesis, N, O, start subscript, 3, end subscript, right
parenthesis, start subscript, 2, end subscript, left parenthesis, a, q, right
parenthesis
[Wait how did we come up with that equation?]
 The balanced equation tells us that for every 1 \,\text{mol
MgCl}_2(aq)1mol MgCl2(aq)1, space, m, o, l, space, M, g, C, l, start
subscript, 2, end subscript, left parenthesis, a, q, right parenthesis, which is
the compound we are interested in quantifying, we expect to make 2
\,\text{mol AgCl}(s)2mol AgCl(s)2, space, m, o, l, space, A, g, C, l, left
parenthesis, s, right parenthesis, our precipitate. We will use this molar
ratio to convert moles of \text{AgCl}(s)AgCl(s)A, g, C, l, left parenthesis,
s, right parenthesis to moles of \text{MgCl}_2(aq)MgCl2(aq)M, g, C, l,
start subscript, 2, end subscript, left parenthesis, a, q, right parenthesis. We
are also going to make the following assumptions:

 All of the precipitate is \text{AgCl}(s)AgCl(s)A, g, C, l, left parenthesis, s,

right parenthesis. We don't have to worry about any precipitate forming
from the \text{NaNO}_3NaNO3N, a, N, O, start subscript, 3, end subscript.

 All of the \text{Cl}^-(aq)Cl−(aq)C, l, start superscript, minus, end

superscript, left parenthesis, a, q, right parenthesis has reacted to
form \text{AgCl}(s)AgCl(s)A, g, C, l, left parenthesis, s, right parenthesis.
In terms of the stoichiometry, we need to make sure we add an excess of
the precipitating agent \text{AgNO}_3(aq)AgNO3(aq)A, g, N, O, start
subscript, 3, end subscript, left parenthesis, a, q, right parenthesis so all of
the \text{Cl}^-(aq)Cl−(aq)C, l, start superscript, minus, end superscript,
left parenthesis, a, q, right parenthesis from \text{MgCl}_2(aq)MgCl2
(aq)M, g, C, l, start subscript, 2, end subscript, left parenthesis, a, q, right
parenthesis reacts.

Now let's go through the full calculation step-by-step!

Step 111: Convert mass of

precipitate, \text{AgCl}(s),AgCl(s),A, g, C, l,
left parenthesis, s, right parenthesis, comma to
moles
Since we are assuming that the mass of the precipitate is
all \text{AgCl}(s)AgCl(s)A, g, C, l, left parenthesis, s, right parenthesis,
we can use the molecular weight of \text{AgCl}AgClA, g, C, l to convert
the mass of precipitate to moles.

\text {mol of AgCl}(s)=1.032\,\cancel{\text {g AgCl}} \times

\dfrac{1\,\text{mol AgCl}}{143.32\,\cancel{\text{g
AgCl}}}=0.007201\,\text{mol AgCl}=7.201 \times 10^{-
3}\,\text{mol AgCl}mol of AgCl(s)=1.032g AgCl
×143.32g AgCl1mol AgCl
=0.007201mol AgCl=7.201×10−3mol AgCl

Step 222: Convert moles of precipitate to moles

of \text{MgCl}_2MgCl2M, g, C, l, start
subscript, 2, end subscript
We can convert the moles of \text{AgCl}(s)AgCl(s)A, g, C, l, left
parenthesis, s, right parenthesis, the precipitate, to moles
of \text{MgCl}_2(aq)MgCl2(aq)M, g, C, l, start subscript, 2, end subscript,
left parenthesis, a, q, right parenthesisusing the molar ratio from the
balanced equation.

\text{mol of MgCl}_2(aq)=7.201\times10^{-3}
\,\cancel{\text{mol AgCl}} \times \dfrac{1\,\text{mol
MgCl}_2}{2\,\cancel{\text{mol AgCl}}}=3.600 \times 10^{-
3} \,\text{mol MgCl}_2mol of MgCl2
(aq)=7.201×10−3mol AgCl×2mol AgCl1mol MgCl2
=3.600×10−3mol MgCl2

Step 333: Convert moles

of \text{MgCl}_2MgCl2M, g, C, l, start
subscript, 2, end subscript to mass in grams
Since we are interested in calculating the mass percent
of \text{MgCl}_2MgCl2M, g, C, l, start subscript, 2, end subscript in the
original mixture, we will need to convert moles of \text{MgCl}_2MgCl2M,
g, C, l, start subscript, 2, end subscript into grams using the molecular
weight.

\text{Mass of MgCl}_2=3.600 \times 10^{-3}

\,\cancel{\text{mol MgCl}_2} \times \dfrac{95.20 \,\text{g
MgCl}_2}{1\,\cancel{\text{mol MgCl}_2}}=0.3427\,\text{g
MgCl}_2Mass of MgCl2=3.600×10−3mol MgCl2
×1mol MgCl295.20g MgCl2=0.3427g MgCl2

Step 444: Calculate mass percent

of \text{MgCl}_2MgCl2M, g, C, l, start
subscript, 2, end subscript in the original mixture
The mass percent of \text{MgCl}_2MgCl2M, g, C, l, start subscript, 2, end
subscript in the original mixture can be calculated using the ratio of the
mass of \text{MgCl}_2MgCl2M, g, C, l, start subscript, 2, end
subscript from Step 333 and the mass of the mixture.

Mass% MgCl2=0.3427g MgCl20.7209g

mixture×100%=47.54%MgCl2in mixture (Thanks Igor!)
Shortcut: We could also combine Steps 111 through 333 into a single
calculation which will involve careful checking of units to make sure
everything cancels out properly:

\text{Mass of MgCl}_2=\underbrace{1.032\,\cancel{\text {g
AgCl}} \times \dfrac{1\,\cancel{\text{mol
AgCl}}}{143.32\,\cancel{\text{g AgCl}}}} \times
\underbrace{\dfrac{1\,\cancel{\text{mol
MgCl}_2}}{2\,\cancel{\text{mol AgCl}}}} \times
\underbrace{\dfrac{95.20 \,\cancel{\text{g
MgCl}_2}}{1\,\cancel{\text{mol
MgCl}_2}}}=0.3427\,\text{g MgCl}_2Mass of MgCl2
=1.032g AgCl×143.32g AgCl1mol AgCl×2mol AgCl
1mol MgCl2×1mol MgCl295.20g MgCl2=0.3427g MgCl2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\text{Ste
p 1:} ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\text{Step 2:}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\text{Step
3:} Step 1: Step 2:
Step 3:space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space,
space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space,
space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space,
space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space,
space, space, space, space, space, space, space, S, t, e, p, space, 1, colon,
space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space,
space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space,
space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, S, t, e, p, space, 2,
colon, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space,
space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, S, t, e, p, space, 3,
colon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\text{find mol
AgCl}~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\text{use mole ratio}~~~~~~\text{find g
MgCl}_2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ fin
d mol AgCl use mole ratio find g MgCl2
space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space,
space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space,
space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space,
space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space,
space, f, i, n, d, space, m, o, l, space, A, g, C, l, space, space, space, space,
space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space,
 space, space, space, space, u, s, e, space, m, o, l, e, space, r, a, t, i, o, space,
space, space, space, space, space, f, i, n, d, space, g, space, M, g, C, l, start
subscript, 2, end subscript, space, space, space, space, space, space, space,
space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space,
space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space,
space, space, space, space, space

Potential sources of error

We now know how to use stoichiometry to analyze the results of a
precipitation gravimetry experiment. If you are doing gravimetric analysis
in lab, however, you might find that there are various factors than can
affect the accuracy of your experimental results (and therefore also your
calculations). Some common complications include:

 Lab errors, such as not fully drying the precipitate

 Stoichiometry errors, such as not balancing the equation for the

precipitation reaction or not adding \text{AgNO}_3(aq)AgNO3(aq)A, g, N,
O, start subscript, 3, end subscript, left parenthesis, a, q, right
parenthesis in excess

What would happen to our results in the above situations?

Vacuum-adapted Erlenmeyer flask with glass frit containing orange-yellow
solid. The Erlenmeyer is about one third full of slightly cloudy yellowish
supernatant.
We might use a vacuum filtration set-up such as this one to separate the precipitate from the supernatant
in a precipitation gravimetry experiment.Image from OpenStax Chemistry, CC BY 4.0

Situation 111: The precipitate is not fully dried

Maybe you ran out of time during the lab period, or the vacuum filtration
set-up was not producing sufficient vacuum. It probably doesn't help that
water is notoriously difficult to fully remove compared to typical organic
solvents because it has a relatively high boiling point as well as a tendency
to hang on with hydrogen-bonds whenever possible. Let's think about how
residual water would affect our calculations.

If our precipitate is not completely dry when we measure the mass, we will
think we have a higher mass of \text{AgCl}(s)AgCl(s)A, g, C, l, left
parenthesis, s, right parenthesis than we actually do (since we are now
measuring the mass of \text{AgCl}(s)AgCl(s)A, g, C, l, left parenthesis, s,
right parenthesis plus the residual water). A higher mass
of \text{AgCl}(s)AgCl(s)A, g, C, l, left parenthesis, s, right
parenthesis will result in calculating more moles
of \text{AgCl}(s)AgCl(s)A, g, C, l, left parenthesis, s, right
parenthesis in Step 111, which will be converted into more moles
of \text{MgCl}_2(s)MgCl2(s)M, g, C, l, start subscript, 2, end subscript,
left parenthesis, s, right parenthesis in our mixture. In the last step, we will
end up calculating that the mass percent of \text{MgCl}_2(s)MgCl2(s)M, g,
C, l, start subscript, 2, end subscript, left parenthesis, s, right
parenthesis is higher than it really is.

Lab tip: If you have time, one way to check for water in the sample is to
recheck the mass a few times during the end of the drying process to make
sure the mass is not changing even if you dry it longer. This is
called drying to constant mass, and while it does not guarantee that your
sample is completely dry, it certainly helps! You can also try stirring up
your sample during the drying process to break up clumps and increase
surface area. Make sure you don't tear holes in the filter paper, though!

Situation 222: We forgot to balance the equation!

Remember how we said earlier that gravimetric analysis is really just
another stoichiometry problem? That means that working from an
unbalanced equation can mess up our calculations. For this scenario, we
would be using stoichiometric coefficients from the
following unbalanced equation:

\text{MgCl}_2(aq)+\text{AgNO}_3(aq)
\rightarrow\text{AgCl}(s)+\text{Mg(NO}_3)_2(aq)~~~~~~~
~~~~(\text{\redD{Warning}: Not balanced}!)MgCl2
(aq)+AgNO3(aq)→AgCl(s)+Mg(NO3)2
(aq) (Warning: Not balanced!)
This equation tells us (incorrectly!) that for every mole
of \text{AgCl}(s)AgCl(s)A, g, C, l, left parenthesis, s, right parenthesis we
make, we can infer that we started with 111 mole of \text{MgCl}_2MgCl2
M, g, C, l, start subscript, 2, end subscript in the original mixture. When
we use that stoichiometric ratio to calculate the mass
of \text{MgCl}_2MgCl2M, g, C, l, start subscript, 2, end subscript, we will
get:

\text{Mass of MgCl}_2=1.032\,\cancel{\text {g AgCl}}

\times \dfrac{1\,\cancel{\text{mol
AgCl}}}{143.32\,\cancel{\text{g AgCl}}} \times
\underbrace{\dfrac{1\,\cancel{\text{mol
MgCl}_2}}{\tealD{1}\,\cancel{\text{mol AgCl}}}} \times
\dfrac{95.20 \,\cancel{\text{g
MgCl}_2}}{1\,\cancel{\text{mol MgCl}_2}}=0.6854\,\text{g
MgCl}_2Mass of MgCl2=1.032g AgCl×143.32g AgCl
1mol AgCl×1mol AgCl1mol MgCl2×1mol MgCl2
95.20g MgCl2=0.6854g MgCl2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\tealD{\text{w
rong molar ratio!}}~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
wrong molar ratio!

We just calculated that the mass of \text{MgCl}_2MgCl2M, g, C, l, start

subscript, 2, end subscript in our mixture is double the correct amount!
This will result in overestimating the mass percent
of \text{MgCl}_2MgCl2M, g, C, l, start subscript, 2, end subscript by a
factor of 222:

Mass% MgCl2=0.6854g MgCl20.7209g

mixture×100%=95.08%MgCl2in mixture (Compare to
47.54% !!)

Situation 333:
Adding \text{AgNO}_3(aq)AgNO3(aq)A, g,
N, O, start subscript, 3, end subscript, left
parenthesis, a, q, right parenthesis in excess
In the last scenario we wonder what would happen if we didn't
add \text{AgNO}_3(aq)AgNO3(aq)A, g, N, O, start subscript, 3, end
subscript, left parenthesis, a, q, right parenthesis in excess. We know this
would be bad because if \text{AgNO}_3(aq)AgNO3(aq)A, g, N, O, start
subscript, 3, end subscript, left parenthesis, a, q, right parenthesis is not in
excess, we will have unreacted \text{Cl}^-Cl−C, l, start superscript, minus,
 end superscript in solution. That means the mass
of \text{AgCl}(s)AgCl(s)A, g, C, l, left parenthesis, s, right
parenthesis will no longer be a measure of the mass
of \text{MgCl}_2MgCl2M, g, C, l, start subscript, 2, end subscript in the
original mixture since we won't be accounting for the \text{Cl}^-Cl−C, l,
start superscript, minus, end superscript still in solution. Therefore, we
will underestimate the mass percent of \text{MgCl}_2MgCl2M, g, C, l,
start subscript, 2, end subscript in the original mixture.

A related and perhaps more important question we might want to answer is:

How do we make sure that we are adding \text{AgNO}_3(aq)AgNO3(aq)A,

g, N, O, start subscript, 3, end subscript, left parenthesis, a, q, right
parenthesis in excess?

If we knew the answer to that question, we could be extra confident in our

calculations! In this problem:

 We have 0.7209 \,\text g0.7209g0, point, 7209, space, g of a mixture that

contains some percentage of \text{MgCl}_2MgCl2M, g, C, l, start
subscript, 2, end subscript.

 We also know from our balanced equation that for each mole
of \text{MgCl}_2MgCl2M, g, C, l, start subscript, 2, end subscript, we will
need 222 moles of \text{AgNO}_3(aq)AgNO3(aq)A, g, N, O, start
subscript, 3, end subscript, left parenthesis, a, q, right parenthesis at a
minimum.

It is okay if we have extra \text{AgNO}_3(aq)AgNO3(aq)A, g, N, O, start

subscript, 3, end subscript, left parenthesis, a, q, right parenthesis, since
once all the \text{Cl}^-Cl−C, l, start superscript, minus, end
superscript has reacted, the rest of the \text{AgNO}_3AgNO3A, g, N, O,
start subscript, 3, end subscript will simply stay part of the solution which
we will be able to filter away.
If we don't know how many moles of \text{MgCl}_2MgCl2M, g, C, l, start
subscript, 2, end subscript are in our original mixture, how do we calculate
the number of moles of \text{AgNO}_3AgNO3A, g, N, O, start subscript,
3, end subscript necessary to add? We know that the more moles
of \text{MgCl}_2MgCl2M, g, C, l, start subscript, 2, end subscript we
have in our original mixture, the more moles of \text{AgNO}_3AgNO3A,
g, N, O, start subscript, 3, end subscript we need. Luckily, we have enough
information to prepare for the worst case scenario, which is when our
mixture is 100\%\,\text{MgCl}_2100%MgCl2100, percent, space, M, g, C,
l, start subscript, 2, end subscript. This is the maximum amount
of \text{MgCl}_2MgCl2M, g, C, l, start subscript, 2, end subscript we can
possibly have, which means this is when we will need the
most \text{AgNO}_3AgNO3A, g, N, O, start subscript, 3, end subscript.

Let's pretend that we have 100\%\,\text{MgCl}_2100%MgCl2100, percent,

space, M, g, C, l, start subscript, 2, end subscript. How many moles
of \text{AgNO}_3AgNO3A, g, N, O, start subscript, 3, end subscript will
we need? This is another stoichiometry problem! We can calculate the
number of moles of \text{AgNO}_3AgNO3A, g, N, O, start subscript, 3,
end subscript by converting the mass of the sample to moles
of \text{MgCl}_2MgCl2M, g, C, l, start subscript, 2, end subscriptusing
the molecular weight, and then converting to the moles
of \text{AgNO}_3AgNO3A, g, N, O, start subscript, 3, end subscript using
the molar ratio:

\text{mol of AgNO}_3=0.7209\,\cancel{\text{g MgCl}_2}

\times \dfrac{1\,\cancel{\text{mol
MgCl}_2}}{95.20\,\cancel{\text{g MgCl}_2}} \times
\dfrac{2\,\text{mol AgNO}_3}{1\,\cancel{\text{mol
MgCl}_2}}=1.514 \times 10^{-2} \,\text{mol
AgNO}_3mol of AgNO3=0.7209g MgCl2×95.20g MgCl2
1mol MgCl2×1mol MgCl22mol AgNO3
=1.514×10−2mol AgNO3
This result tells us that even if we don't know exactly how
much \text{MgCl}_2MgCl2M, g, C, l, start subscript, 2, end subscript we
have in our mixture, as long as we add at least 1.514 \times 10^{-2}
\,\text{mol AgNO}_31.514×10−2mol AgNO31, point, 514, times, 10, start
superscript, minus, 2, end superscript, space, m, o, l, space, A, g, N, O,
start subscript, 3, end subscript we should be good to go!
[Could it help to add a HUGE excess?]

\text{Ag}^+(aq)A, g, start superscript, plus, end superscript, left

parenthesis, a, q, right parenthesis\text{AgCl}A, g, C, l\text{AgCl}A, g, C,
l

\text{AgCl}(s) \leftrightharpoons \text{Ag}^+(aq)+\text{Cl}^-(aq)

\text{AgCl}A, g, C, l\text{Ag}^+(aq)A, g, start superscript, plus, end

superscript, left parenthesis, a, q, right parenthesis\text{Cl}^-(aq)C, l, start
superscript, minus, end superscript, left parenthesis, a, q, right
parenthesis\text{AgCl}(s)A, g, C, l, left parenthesis, s, right
parenthesis\text{Ag}^+A, g, start superscript, plus, end superscript

Summary
Precipitation gravimetry is a gravimetric analysis technique that uses a
precipitation reaction to calculate the amount or concentration of an ionic
compound. For example, we could add a solution
containing \text{Ag}^+Ag+A, g, start superscript, plus, end superscript to
quantify the amount of a halide ion such as \text{Br}^-(aq)Br−(aq)B, r,
start superscript, minus, end superscript, left parenthesis, a, q, right
parenthesis. Some useful tips for precipitation gravimetry experiments and
calculations include:
 Double check stoichiometry and make sure equations are balanced.

 Make sure that the precipitate is dried to constant mass.

 Add an excess of the precipitating agent.

[Attributions and references]