Question
Question: Why doesn’t barium nitrate react with sulfuric acid?...
Why doesn’t barium nitrate react with sulfuric acid?
Solution
Calcium sulfate is slightly soluble, and strontium and barium sulfates are essentially insoluble. When exposed to sulfuric acid, a layer of insoluble sulfate is formed on each of these metals, slowing or stopping the reaction entirely.
Complete answer:
Barium sulfate is insoluble in water and will precipitate out of solution. Barium sulfate is a white insoluble solid that precipitates out of solution.
Barium nitrate, Ba(NO3)2 , will react with sulfuric acid, H2SO4 , to produce barium sulfate, BaSO4 , and aqueous nitric acid, HNO3 .
Barium sulfate is insoluble in water and will precipitate out of solution.
The balanced chemical equation for this double replacement reaction:
Ba(NO3)2+H2SO4→BaSO4↓+2HNO3
The complete ionic equation for this reaction:
Ba2++2NO3−+2H++SO42−→BaSO4↓+2H++2NO3−
To get the net ionic equation, eliminate spectator ions, i.e. the ions that are present on both sides of the equation.
Ba2++2NO3−+3H++SO42−→BaSO4↓+2H++2NO3−
This will give us:
Ba2++SO42−→BaSO4↓ .
Additional Information:
A precipitation reaction is when two aqueous ionic compounds form a new ionic compound that is not soluble in water. One example is the reaction between lead nitrate and potassium iodide. Both compounds are white solids that can be dissolved in water to make clear, colorless solutions. The insoluble product compound is called the precipitate. The solvent and soluble components of the reaction are called the supernatant. We can use solubility rules to predict whether a precipitation reaction will take place. The formation of a solid precipitate is the driving force that makes the reaction proceed in the forward direction.
Note:
The above reaction is an example of a double replacement reaction. Double replacement reactions also known as, exchange, or metathesis reactions occur when parts of two ionic compounds are exchanged, making two new compounds. The overall pattern of a double replacement reaction looks like this:
A+B−+C+D−→A+D−+C+B− .