In the Laboratory

A Simple Method for Determination of Solubility W

in the First-Year Laboratory
Heather D. Harle, Julia A. Ingram, Phyllis A. Leber, Kenneth R. Hess, and Claude H. Yoder*
Department of Chemistry, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA 17604; *claude.yoder@fandm.edu

Although a variety of methods have been employed for Table 1. Experimental and Literature
the determination of solubility, only a few are suitable for Solubilities
the first-year laboratory. Those described in this Journal in- Compound Exp. Sol/g L1 Lit. Sol/g L1
clude the recovery of solute after evaporation of solution (1–
5), loss of solute during saturation (2, 3), titration of a species K2SO4 107.2 110
in solution (5–8), colorimetric determination of the concen-
tration of a species in solution (9–11), determination of the Ba(NO3)2 85.7 90
pH of the solution (12), determination of the activity of a Li2CO3 12.4 13
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radio-labeled solution (13), gravimetric analysis of cation con-

centration in solution (14), and observation of the crystalli- AgC2H3O2 10.7 10.4
zation point during cooling (15). We describe a method that
is relatively fast and requires only a Buchner-type filter fun- CaSO42H2O 2.0 2.6
nel, a 500-mL round-bottom flask, and an analytical balance. BaC2O4 0.13 0.13
Because it involves only two weighings and no transfer of
precipitate it is also potentially quite accurate. In our method, BaCO3 0.025 0.02
the compound, whose solubility is to be determined, is
weighed directly into a clean, dry, filter crucible. The com- BaHPO4 0.032 0.05– 0.10
pound is then dried for an hour in a 110 C oven in the
Ba3(PO4)2 0.027 0.003
filter crucible. The crucible is then inserted into the round-
J. Chem. Educ. 2003.80:560.

bottom flask and a given volume of distilled water, usually
either 100 or 1000 mL, is then passed through the compound
using aspiration. The compound remaining in the filter cru-
cible is then dried in a 110 C oven for two hours and then
reweighed. The loss of weight is the mass of the compound
dissolved in the given volume of water. Table 1 gives the WSupplemental
average of two to five determinations of the solubility for a
series of compounds of different solubilities at a temperature
of 23 ± 2 C. tor are available in this issue of JCE Online.
A comparison of the experimental and tabulated solu-
bilities indicates that the agreement is, in general, quite good. Literature Cited
With crystalline compounds such as Ba(NO3)2, accuracy was
greatly increased by powdering the compound prior to weigh- 1.
ing in the funnel, and by gently stirring the compound with 2.
a glass stirring rod during the suction extraction. With com- 3.
pounds as insoluble as BaSO4, the technique produces larger 4.
errors. 5.
The porosity of the filter crucible must be adjusted for 6.
the particle size of the compound. We have found that a D 7.
porosity works well for most compounds and gives reason- 8.
ably rapid filtration, but E porosity can increase accuracy and 9.
precision slightly for insoluble, finely divided compounds like 10.
Ba3(PO4)2. The average amount of time required for filtra-
tion using one liter of water in a D porosity filter is gener- 11.
ally less than ten minutes. 12.
13.
Hazards 14.
15.
The hazards associated with this procedure are those re- 16.
lated to the compounds chosen for solubility determination.
Information about the handling of these compounds can be 17.
found on the corresponding Material Safety Data Sheets.
NOTE: Literature data taken from Lange's Handbook
of Chemistry (16) and Gmelin Handbuch der
anorganischen Chemie (17).
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560 Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 80 No. 5 May 2003 • JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu