Question

Aqueous solutions of barium nitrate and potassium phosphate are mixed. What is the precipitate and how many molecules are formed?

Answer 1

Aqueous solutions of barium nitrate and potassium phosphate are mixed. What is the precipitate and how many molecules are formed?

Barium nitrate has a chemical symbol of Ba(NO3)2 and potassium phosphate has a chemical symbol K2PO4. The reaction between these two is a double replacement reaction yielding barium phosphate and potassium nitrate.

The chemical equation representing the reaction is,

            Ba(NO3)2 + K2PO4 à KNO3 + BaPO4

Answer 2

Answer: The precipitate is $Ba_3(PO_4)_2$ and 1 molecule of Barium phosphate and 6 molecules of Potassium nitrate is formed.

Explanation: We are given Barium nitrate and Potassium phosphate , that will lead to the formation of Barium phosphate and Potassium nitrate.

As we know that these solutions are present in water, therefore we will obtain Barium phosphate as a precipitate because Barium phosphate is insoluble in water and Potassium nitrate is soluble in water. Thus the reaction is

$Ba(NO_3)_2(aq.)+K_3PO_4(aq.)\rightarrow Ba_3(PO_4)_2(ppt.)+KNO_3(aq.)$

To know how many molecules are formed at the end, we need to balance the above equation.

Balancing the equation, we get:

$3Ba(NO_3)_2(aq.)+2K_3PO_4(aq.)\rightarrow Ba_3(PO_4)_2(ppt.)+6KNO_3(aq.)$

Thus, we get 1 molecule of Barium phosphate as a precipitate and 6 molecules of Potassium nitrate which is easily soluble in water.