Solubility of a salt dissolved in water in the presence of another salt

Abstract

In this study, the descriptions of salt solubility in the textbooks of secondary school and college were reviewed to figure out the reason of low understanding of elementary and secondary school students and teachers about the solubility of a salt in the presence of other ions. The ionic strength dependence of salt solubility was not introduced in the secondary school textbooks and general chemistry textbooks. It appeared in the physical chemistry textbooks as a direct or an indirect explanation. However, most of college senior students who had learned the physical chemistry could not relate the salt solubility with the ionic strength change. The factors might affect salt solubility, such as the ion pair formation and the activity coefficient change by ionic strength, were mentioned and an experimental result was also shown to resolve the questions that college students and teachers might have. Because these explanations are beyond the secondary school level, we need to develope an easier and better explanation suitable for the secondary school students.