Lecture 2 Unit 1

Solubility product
The concentration of a pure solid in solid phase is constant, for example Silver Chloride as shown below
[Ag+][Cl-] = [AgCl(s)] = Ks.p
The constant Ks.p is called the solubility product and the expression [Ag+][Cl-] is the ion product. The
equation states that the ion product must be equal Ks.p when the saturation solution is in equilibrium with
the excess solid.
Generally, the equilibrium can be written as
MxNy(s) xMy+ + yNx-

K sp 
M  N 
y x x y

M N  x y

Since solids are not reckoned with in equilibrium because the activity is equal to 1.
Therefore the solubility product will be written as


K sp  M y   N 
x x y

Example
Write the expression for the solubility product of the following salts
AgCl(s)
CaF2(s)
DETERMINATION OF SPARINGLY SOLUBLE SALT USING THE SOLUBILITY PRODUCT
Recall that MxNy(s) xMy+ + yNx-
x
And K sp  M y  N x
y
  
Therefore, let M  y
 =xS and N  =yS
x

K sp  xS    yS 
x y
So
Make ‘S’ the subject
1
 K sp  x  y
S x y
 x .y 
Example
Write the expression for solubility for the following, if the solubility product is Ksp
AgCl
CaF2