How does Ksp relate to solubility?

Question

21743 views around the world

You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License

Answer 1 · 2016-08-18T12:41:09

Ksp is the constant of or ratio of the amount of solute to solvent for any compound.

K sp is often written in scientific notation like 2.5 x #10^-3#

The larger the negative exponent the less soluble the compound is in solution.

The larger the real value of the Ksp the more soluble the compound is in solution 2.5 x #10^-3# > 2.5 x #10^-6#

Answer 2 · 2016-08-18T14:44:29

#K_"sp"# refers to the #"solubility product"#. It is another equilibrium expression.

For a sparingly soluble binary salt, #MX#, we may write its solubility equilibrium as:

#MX(s) rightleftharpoons M^+ + X^-#

#K_"sp"=[M^+][X^-]#

Usually #K_"sp"# assumes standard conditions of temperature and pressure. See here for further treatment. For once I found the appropriate link.