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Common-Ion Effect - Wikipedia

The common-ion effect states that adding a chemical with one ion in common with a salt in solution will decrease the salt's solubility by increasing association between the ions through equilibrium. This is due to Le Chatelier's principle, where adding more of one ion shifts the solubility equilibrium towards precipitation. As a practical example, adding sodium carbonate decreases calcium carbonate hardness in water by precipitating it out. The common-ion effect is also used in soap and detergent manufacturing to precipitate soap salts.

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111 views11 pages

Common-Ion Effect - Wikipedia

The common-ion effect states that adding a chemical with one ion in common with a salt in solution will decrease the salt's solubility by increasing association between the ions through equilibrium. This is due to Le Chatelier's principle, where adding more of one ion shifts the solubility equilibrium towards precipitation. As a practical example, adding sodium carbonate decreases calcium carbonate hardness in water by precipitating it out. The common-ion effect is also used in soap and detergent manufacturing to precipitate soap salts.

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Common-ion effect

The common-ion effect states that in a


chemical solution in which several species
reversibly associate with each other by an
equilibrium process, increasing the
concentration of any one of its dissociated
components by adding another chemical
that also contains it will cause an
increased amount of association.[1] This
result is a consequence of Le Chatelier's
principle for the equilibrium reaction of the
association/dissociation. The effect is
commonly seen as an effect on the
solubility of salts and other weak
electrolytes. Adding an additional amount
of one of the ions of the salt generally
leads to increased precipitation of the salt,
which reduces the concentration of both
ions of the salt until the solubility
equilibrium is reached. The effect is based
on the fact that both the original salt and
the other added chemical have one ion in
common with each other.

Solubility effects
A practical example used very widely in
areas drawing drinking water from chalk or
limestone aquifers is the addition of
sodium carbonate to the raw water to
reduce the hardness of the water. In the
water treatment process, highly soluble
sodium carbonate salt is added to
precipitate out sparingly soluble calcium
carbonate. The very pure and finely divided
precipitate of calcium carbonate that is
generated is a valuable by-product used in
the manufacture of toothpaste.

The salting-out process used in the


manufacture of soaps benefits from the
common-ion effect. Soaps are sodium
salts of fatty acids. Addition of sodium
chloride reduces the solubility of the soap
salts. The soaps precipitate due to a
combination of common-ion effect and
increased ionic strength.

Sea, brackish and other waters that


contain appreciable amount of sodium
ions (Na+) interfere with the normal
behavior of soap because of common-ion
effect. In the presence of excess Na+, the
solubility of soap salts is reduced, making
the soap less effective.

Buffering effect
A buffer solution contains an acid and its
conjugate base or a base and its
conjugate acid.[2] Addition of the conjugate
ion will result in a change of pH of the
buffer solution. For example, if both
sodium acetate and acetic acid are
dissolved in the same solution they both
dissociate and ionize to produce acetate
ions. Sodium acetate is a strong
electrolyte, so it dissociates completely in
solution. Acetic acid is a weak acid, so it
only ionizes slightly. According to Le
Chatelier's principle, the addition of
acetate ions from sodium acetate will
suppress the ionization of acetic acid and
shift its equilibrium to the left. Thus the
percent dissociation of the acetic acid will
decrease, and the pH of the solution will
increase. The ionization of an acid or a
base is limited by the presence of its
conjugate base or acid.

NaCH3CO2(s) → Na (aq) + CH CO (aq)


+
3 2
−

CH CO H(aq) ⇌ H (aq) + CH CO (aq)


3 2
+
3 2
−
This will decrease the hydronium
concentration, and thus the common-ion
solution will be less acidic than a solution
containing only acetic acid.

Exceptions
Many transition-metal compounds violate
this rule due to the formation of complex
ions, a scenario not part of the equilibria
that are involved in simple precipitation of
salts from ionic solution. For example,
copper(I) chloride is insoluble in water, but
it dissolves when chloride ions are added,
such as when hydrochloric acid is added.
This is due to the formation of soluble
CuCl2− complex ions.

Uncommon-ion effect
Sometimes adding an ion other than the
ones that are part of the precipitated salt
itself can increase the solubility of the salt.
This "salting in" is called the "uncommon-
ion effect" (also "salt effect" or the
"diverse-ion effect"). It occurs because as
the total ion concentration increases, inter-
ion attraction within the solution can
become an important factor.[3] This
alternate equilibrium makes the ions less
available for the precipitation reaction.
This is also called odd ion effect.

See also
Chelate effect

References
1. IUPAC, Compendium of Chemical
Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book")
(1997). Online corrected version:
(2006–) "common-ion effect (on
rates) ".
doi:10.1351/goldbook.C01191
2. Mendham, J.; Denney, R. C.; Barnes, J.
D.; Thomas, M. J. K. (2000), Vogel's
Quantitative Chemical Analysis (6th
ed.), New York: Prentice Hall, p. 28,
ISBN 0-582-22628-7

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