15 Facts on HCl + Ag2CO3: What, How To Balance & FAQs

Ag2CO3 is a yellow compound that is poorly soluble in water like most transition metal carbonates. Let us talk about the reaction between Ag2CO3 with HCl in detail.

Silver carbonate or Ag2CO3 is a metal salt that reacts with strong acid, HCl, and forms the precipitate of silver chloride (AgCl) and weak carbonic acid (H2CO3). Being an unstable compound, carbonic acid dissociates into carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O).

Let us discuss the products, type, balancing method, intermolecular forces, and calculation of enthalpy of the reaction between HCl and Ag2CO3.

What is the product of HCl and Ag2CO3?

The transition metal carbonate, Ag2CO3 reacts with the strong acid, HCl, and produces silver chloride (AgCl), carbon dioxide (CO2), and water (H2O). At first, carbonic acid is formed. But it will be dissociated and forms carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O).

Ag2CO3 (aq) + 2HCl (aq) = 2AgCl (aq)↓ + CO2 (g) + H2O (l)

What type of reaction is HCl + Ag2CO3?

The reaction HCl+ Ag2CO3 is an-

How to balance HCl + Ag2CO3?

The below steps must be followed to balance any chemical reaction-

  • First the unbalanced chemical is equation is written with a right arrow sign. Ag2CO3 (aq) + HCl (aq) AgCl (aq) + CO2 (g) + H2O (l)
  • Calculate the number of moles present for each element in the reactant and product side.
Elements Mole numbers on reactant side Mole numbers on product side
Ag 2 1
C 1 1
O 3 3
H 1 2
Cl 1 1
Mole numbers of each of the reacting species
  • To balance both sides (reactant and product) we have to multiply 2 with HCl on the reactant side as well as 2 with AgCl on the product side to balance the number of moles of silver, hydrogen, and chlorine.
  • Therefore, the final balanced equation will be – Ag2CO3 (aq) + 2HCl (aq) = 2AgCl (aq)↓+ CO2 (g) + H2O (l).

HCL + Ag2CO3 Titration

The titration of HCl+ Ag2CO3 cannot be performed because the solubility of Ag2CO3 is very less in the solution. All the argentometric titration is done using either silver nitrate (AgNO3) or silver chromate (Ag2CrO4) to determine the amount of Cl ion due to the moderate solubility of AgNO3 in an aqueous solution.

HCl + Ag2CO3 Net Ionic Equation

The net ionic equation of the chemical reaction is 2Ag+ (aq) + CO32- (aq) + 2H+ (aq) + 2Cl (aq) = 2Ag+ (aq) + 2Cl (aq) + CO2 (g) + H2O (l).

HCL + Ag2CO3 Conjugate Pairs

The conjugate pairs (pair of compounds differ by one proton) equation of HCl + Ag2CO3 is –

  • The conjugate pair of HCl is Cl
  • The conjugate pair of H2O is OH
  • The conjugate pair of H2CO3 is CO32-

HCl and Ag2CO3 Intermolecular Forces

The intermolecular forces act on HCl and Ag2CO3 are-

  • Ag2CO3 is an ionic metal carbonate. Therefore, the electrostatic force of attraction works between the silver and carbonate ions in the lattice of silver carbonate.
  • In HCl, dipole-dipole force, London dispersion force, and hydrogen bonding are present as intermolecular forces.
  • In the products, the electrostatic force of attraction is present in AgCl and dipole-dipole along with London dispersion forces are present in H2O and CO2.

HCl + Ag2CO3 Reaction Enthalpy

The enthalpy changes of the reaction HCl + Ag2CO3 is -93.174 KJ/mol. This value is obtained from the following mathematical calculation.

  • The enthalpy of the product side is -127 KJ/mol (for AgCl), -393.474 KJ/mol (for CO2), and -285.8 KJ/mol (for H2O). The enthalpy values for the reactants are -505.8 KJ/mol (Ag2CO3), and -167.15 (HCl) KJ/mol respectively.
  • The change of enthalpy of the reaction is = Total enthalpy of the products – Total enthalpy of the reactants = [{2×(-127) + (-393.474) + (-285.8)} – {2× (-167.15) + (-505.8)}] KJ/mol. = – 93.174 KJ/mol.

Is HCl + Ag2CO3 a buffer solution?

The mixture of HCl+ Ag2CO3 is not a buffer solution because it is a mixture of a strong acid and a basic salt. Buffer solution must contain either a weak acid or its conjugate bases like CH3COOH and CH3COONa or a weak base and its conjugate acids like NH4OH and NH4Cl.

Is HCl + Ag2CO3 a complete reaction?

The chemical reaction HCl + Ag2CO3 can only be a complete reaction if the reaction is written accurately with its actual products which are carbon dioxide, the ppt of AgCl along with water.

Is HCl + Ag2CO3 an exothermic or endothermic reaction?

The reaction HCl+Ag2CO3 is an exothermic reaction because the change of enthalpy is negative (-93.174 KJ/mol). This -ve enthalpy signifies that heat is absorbed on the product side and generated on the reactant side. It also indicates that the products are thermodynamically more stable than the reactants.

Is HCl + Ag2CO3 a redox reaction?

The reaction of HCl+ Ag2CO3 is not a redox reaction because no electron transfer takes place throughout the reaction. The oxidation state of all the reacting species like Ag, H, Cl, C, and O does not change from the reactant side to the product side due to no electron transfer.

Is HCl + Ag2CO3 a precipitation reaction?

HCl+ Ag2CO3 is a precipitation reaction because on the product side silver chloride (AgCl) appears as a white precipitate in the solid state. It is not soluble in the aqueous solution and therefore precipitates out.

Is HCl + Ag2CO3 reversible or irreversible reaction?

HCl+ Ag2CO3 is an irreversible reaction because the products cannot convert back into the reactants. It is a precipitation reaction in which AgCl is precipitated out from the reaction. Besides that, a gas is formed on the product side and due to having large entropy, products are more stable than the reactants.

Is HCl + Ag2CO3 displacement reaction?

HCl+ Ag2CO3 is a double displacement reaction. Generally, all the precipitation reactions must be a double displacement reaction because two ions are displaced simultaneously by each other in this type of reaction. In this reaction Ag and hydrogen also displace each other from HCl and Ag2CO3 respectively.

hcl + ag2co3
Double Displacement Reaction

Conclusion

Ag2CO3 has different uses in different fields. It produces metal silver by the oxidation of formaldehyde. It is also used as a base in the Wittig reaction and a synthesis reagent in the Koenigs-Knorr reaction.