descriptive chemistry question

NaNO2 + HCl yields HNO2 + NaCl

This reaction produces nitrous acid, which is unstable and as such blah blah blah

CO2 + 2LiOH yields Li2CO3 and H2O

This reaction produces lithium carbonate. Lithium dihydrate is used to absorb CO2 blah blah blah

 

I didn't try to balance it, but that looks right to me. Good ole' AP chem. The AP test got me through two years of chem at my university.

EDIT: Dlloyd has answered it much more accurately. Oh how one forgets about solubilities and pKa's and all sorts of things.

 

do you also have to keep in mind solubility rules?

 

except not...

It's basic stoichiometry...

And I can't remember my solubility rules, but those looked right... some of it will be aqueos, some will be solid..

 

As far as solubility for these you just have to know that Na is soluble and H Cl is a strong acid so you should write it as its ions.

 

I am one to admittedly, but neurophysiology and electro physiology were my bag baby.
sodium, potassium, and calcuim ions diffusing across nueral mylenated and unmylenated semi permeable membranes.
the good old days!

 

Well, there is some organic chemistry involved. Although inorganic in nature, the reaction used to produce HNO2 is very common in organic chemistry. It is an unstable weak acid, so if one were to seperate the ions in the equations, HNO2 would stay together as a liquid. Everything else is pretty straightfoward: everything is aqueous except water and carbon dioxide.

 

I didn't take chem in high school but I'm taking inorganic chem I right now. You could say I "read ahead."

 

Nope.

 

*Edited*

I disagree.

 

Hes got it mostly right. It is weak, therefore it would stay in HNO2 form, no?

 

i don't my my acids from my elbow!


man, it feels like forever since i had a chem class, when in reality it was just last spring.

 

I know it's not an organic reaction; it's a reaction that may be used for organic purposes. See slick's comment for the liquid HNO2 dealio. Whatever it is, it's written as a liquid.

 

(edited to remove grouchiness and to improve relevance with the initial post.)

CO2 bubbled through a lithium hydroxide solution

CO2 + 2Li+ + 2OH- -----> 2Li+ + (CO3)2- +H2O

Carbonic acid is a weak diprotic acid, but will be more or less completely dissociated at the pH at which this reaction will take place. Lithium carbonate is moderately soluble.

As you keep bubbling CO2 in, the pH continues to drop and it becomes more favourable for the formation of the bicarbonate ion.

H+ + (CO3)2- <-----> HCO3- pKa = 10.3

If you keep bubbling it in, you'll start getting carbonic acid

H+ + HCO3- <-----> H2CO3 pKa = 6.3

The pKa is the negative log(10) of the dissociation constant Ka of the weak acid. It basically tells you the pH at which half of the solution is in the acid species and half is in the base species.

sodium nitrite and hydrochloric acid

Na+ + NO2- + H+ + Cl- -------> HNO2 + Na+ + Cl-

That's what you'd get if you added a small amount of sodium nitrite to excess hydrochloric acid. However, if you're talking about a complete reaction (i.e. equal concentrations of sodium nitrite and hydrochloric acid to start with), you'll get this...

Na+ + NO2- + H+ + Cl- -------> H+ + NO2- + Na+ + Cl-

Nitrous acid is weak, but has a pKa of around 3.34, meaning it more or less fully dissociates at neutral pH.

The end pH will depend on the initial concentrations of the substrates.

*Hopefully the final edit*

If you haven't been taught about equilibrium constants yet, ignore the "howevers" in this post and just go for the bits in blue.

 

Now ask Dlloyd where the dilithium crystals can be found ...