Question

The precipitate formed in a precipitation reaction is a/an ____________________ compound.

Answer 1

Definition of a precipitation reaction

A precipitation reaction can be defined as a chemical reaction occurring in an aqueous solution in which dissolved substances react to form an insoluble salt.

Example: When an aqueous solution of Silver nitrate(${\mathrm{AgNO}}_3$) is mixed with that of Sodium chloride($\mathrm{NaCl}$), a white precipitate of Silver chloride($\mathrm{AgCl}$) is formed.

Chemical equation:

$\underset{\mathrm{Silver}\mathrm{nitrate}}{{\mathrm{AgNO}}_3(\mathrm{aq}})+\underset{\mathrm{Sodium}\mathrm{chloride}}{\mathrm{NaCl}\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)}\stackrel{}{\to }\underset{\mathrm{Silver}\mathrm{chloride}}{\mathrm{AgCl}\left(\mathrm{s}\right)}+\underset{\mathrm{Sodium}\mathrm{nitrate}}{{\mathrm{NaNO}}_3\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)}$

Therefore, the precipitate formed in a precipitation reaction is an insoluble compound.