Question #e5020

1 Answer
Jun 23, 2015

The concentration of the chloride ions will be equal to 0.5 M.

Explanation:

The first thing that you need to notice is that both compounds contain chloride ions, and that both are soluble in aqueous solution.

This means that they will dissociate to form

NaCl_((aq)) -> Na_((aq))^(+) + Cl_((aq))^(-)

and

BaCl_(2(aq)) -> Ba_((aq))^(2+) + color(red)(2)Cl_((aq))^(-)

So, every mole of sodium chloride produces 1 mole of chloride ions, and every mole of barium chloride produces color(red)(2) moles of chloride ions in solution.

Use the molarities and volumes of the two solutions to determine how many moles of each compound you have present

C = n/V => n = C * V

n_(NaCl) = "0.3 M" * 300 * 10^(-3)"L" = "0.09 moles" NaCl

and

n_(BaCl_2) = "0.4 M" * 200 * 10^(-3)"M" = "0.08 moles" BaCl_2

According to the dissociation equations, you have

0.09cancel("moles"NaCl) * ("1 mole "Cl^(-))/(1cancel("mole"NaCl)) = "0.09 moles" Cl^(-)

and

0.08cancel("moles"BaCl_2) * (color(red)(2)"moles "Cl^(-))/(1cancel("mole"BaCl_2)) = "0.16 moles" Cl^(-)

The total number of moles of chloride ions will thus be

n_"total" = 0.09 + 0.16 = "0.25 moles "Cl^(-)

The total volume of the solution will be

V_"total" = V_(NaCl) + V_(BaCl_2)

V_"total" = 300 + 200 = "500 mL"

Therefore, the molarity of the chloride ions will be

[Cl^(-)] = n_"total"/V_"total" = "0.25 moles"/(500 * 10^(-3)"L") = color(green)("0.5 M")