What does ksp represent

Ask questions; get answers. How to Get a Perfect , by a Perfect Scorer. Score on SAT Math. Score on SAT Reading. Score on SAT Writing. What ACT target score should you be aiming for? How to Get a Perfect 4. How to Write an Amazing College Essay. A Comprehensive Guide. Choose Your Test. For these equations: A and B represent different ions and solids. In these equations, they are also referred to as "products". So [AgCl] represents the molar concentration of AgCl.

First, we need to write out the two equations. In this section, we discuss the main factors that affect the value of the solubility constant. Salts of alkali metals tend to be quite soluble. On the other end of the spectrum, the solubility of zinc hydroxide is only 4. Many ionic compounds containing hydroxide are relatively insoluble.

Most ionic compounds that are considered to be insoluble will still dissolve to a small extent in water. As an example, silver chloride dissociates to a small extent into silver ions and chloride ions upon being added to water. The process is written as an equilibrium because the dissociation occurs only to a small extent. Therefore, an equilibrium expression can be written for the process. Keep in mind that the solid silver chloride does not have a variable concentration and so is not included in the expression.

This equilibrium constant is called the solubility product constant , and is equal to the mathematical product of the ions each raised to the power of the coefficient of the ion in the dissociation equation. The Ksp expression for a salt is the product of the concentrations of the ions, with each concentration raised to a power equal to the coefficient of that ion in the balanced equation for the solubility equilibrium.

Solubility product constants are used to describe saturated solutions of ionic compounds of relatively low solubility. A saturated solution is in a state of dynamic equilibrium between the dissolved, dissociated, ionic compound and the undissolved solid.

As for everu solution, at equilibrium in given conditions we can write an expression like the one below for Silver chloride:.