0.6 mol of HCl is added to 1.0 L of a 0.3 M NH3 solution. what are the major species in this reaction?

Question

I am trying to figure out what the chemical formulas are for the species that will act as acids. bases and anything other.

Answer 1

Great question! HCl is a strong acid and will completely dissociate in water into H+ and Cl-. NH3 is a weak base and will partially dissolve in water. To find the major species, we need to find the limiting reactant. To find the limiting reactant, we need to find which reactant has the least amount of moles. We can do an ICE table (Initial Change Equilibrium) to make this easier. There are 0.6 mol HCl and 0.3 mol NH3.

HCl + NH3 -> Cl- + NH4+

Initial 0.6mol 0.3mol 0mol 0mol

Change -0.3mol -0.3mol +0.3mol +0.3mol

Equilibrium 0.3mol 0mol 0.3mol 0.3mol

In the end, we have 0.3 mol of HCl, Cl-, and NH4+. This means that the major species left are HCl, Cl-, and NH4+. Hope this explanation helped!