EXPERIMENT 5:

COMMON ION EFFECT

Chem 18.1 AB2

Puyaoan, Rio Joana; Ngo, Lester Lloyd Vinz | Prof. Kreza Ligaya
INTRODUCTION
• KEY WORDS:
– Common ion effect
– Buffers
– Soluble salt
 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
• Part A: The Effect on the Ionization of Acids and
Bases
The following results were obtained from mixing 10ml at 2 ml of the
respective reagents. pH values of each solution
Reagents pH were tested using pH papers.
The summary of the data gathered could be found below.
A.) 10 mL 0.1M HCl + 2mL H O
2 1
B.) 10 mL 0.1M HCl + 2 mL 0.1M 1
NaCl

C.)10 mL 0.1M HOAc + 2mL H2O 3

D.) 10 mL 0.1M HOAc + 2mL 0.1M 4

NaOAc
Table 1. shows
E.) 10 mL 0.1M NaOH + 2mL H2O 12 the effect of
adding a common
F.) 10 mL 0.1M NaOH + 2mL 0.1M 13 ion to strong and
NaCl weak
electrolytes.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
• In Part A, the common ion effect is an application of Le
Chatelier’s Principle.
Strong Electrolyte: irreversible, complete dissociation
(solution A, B, E, F)
Weak Electrolyte: reversible, partial dissociation (solution C,
D)
– Contain HOAc, a weak electrolyte that partially dissociates into:
HOAc  H+ + OAc-
So like, NaOac, that dissociates into Na + + OAc-, the
concentration of OAc is increased and in turn the H
concentration is decrased, and thus a shift to the left will occur
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
• Part B: Buffering Effect
A. 10 ml of 0.5 M HOAc + 10 ml of 0.5 M NaOAc
B. 10 ml of 0.5 M HCl + 10 ml of 0.5 M NaCl
C. 10 ml of 0.5 M HNO3 + 10 ml of 0.5 M NaNO3
D. 10 ml of 0.5 M NaH2PO4 + 10 ml of 0.5 M
Na2HPO4
E. 10 ml of 0.5 M NH4OH + 10 ml of 0.5 M NH4Cl
 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Experimen Theoretica Table 2.
pH after pH after tal l presents the
Solution pH
HCl NaOH Conclusio Conclusio pH of the
n n solution as
well as the pH
Non-
A 6 5 9 Buffer when 6M of
Buffer HCl and 6M of
NaOH were
B 1 1 1 Buffer Not Buffer added to the
original
solution. It also
C 1 1 1 Buffer Not Buffer gives the
conclusion
whether the
Non-
D 6 3 7 Buffer solutions
Buffer exhibit
buffering
E 7 8 9 Buffer Buffer effect as well
as the
theoretical
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
• A buffer consists of an acidic and a basic
component which does not consume each
other in a neutralization reaction. Its behavior
is based on establishing excesses of both the
original acid or base, and its conjugate. The
presence of excess the "common ion" causes
a shift in the equilibrium of the first reaction
and sets up the required condition for
buffering behavior.
• Buffers are used to minimize the change in
the pH of the solution when an acid or base is
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
• Part C: Effects of Common Ion on the Solubility of
a Slightly Soluble Salt

To be able to calculate the solubility of the benzoic

acid in a solution with a common ion, a comparison
was made against the solubility of benzoic acid in
water. The data was used to calculate the solubility of
benzoic acid in sodium benzoate. This can be
illustrated in the following calculations:
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
• Volume of 0.1 M NaOH = 1.3ml
• Solubility of benzoic acid in water = 1.5 x 10-2 M
• Solubility of benzoic acid in sodium benzoate
solution= 0.0013 M

MacidVacid = MNaOHVNaOH
Macid(10ml) = 0.01M (1.3ml)
Macid = 0.0013 M
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
• When benzoic acid crystals were added to the sodium benzoate
solution, the concentration of C6H5COO- is increased, causing a
shift to the left. It follows then that the solubility of benzoic acid
is decreased or reduced. This is in relation with the Le
Chatelier’s principle which states that the presence of a common
ion (C6H5COO-) influences the equilibrium of a slightly soluble
salt system and theoretically reduces the solubility of
C6H5COOH, shifting the solubility equilibrium to the left. This
reduction in solubility is also due to the common ion effect.
NaC6H5CO2 (s)  Na+(aq) + C6H5COO-
C6H5COOH (s)  H+ + C6H5COO- 
• Generally speaking, the presence of a second solute
that gives a common ion decreases the solubility of
a slightly soluble salt. And it is evident that base on
the data gathered, if you will compare the solubility
of benzoic acid in sodium benzoate solution, it is
smaller compare to the solubility of benzoic acid in
water, which is the right thing to occur.
CONCLUSIONS
One of the special case of the Le Chatelier’s Principle
is the common ion effect. The common ion effect
can generally be seen in weak electrolytes, wherein
the partial dissociation of weak electrolytes gives a
reversible reaction that is in equilibrium state. It is a
shift in equilibrium induced by an ion which is the
same with one of the species in the equilibrium.
Buffered solutions contain a weak conjugate acid-base
pair which can resist drastic changes in pH upon the
addition of small amounts of strong electrolytes. A
buffer resists changes in pH because it contains both
acidic and basic species to neutralize OH- and H+
ions, respectively.
THESE ARE THE EFFECTS OF COMMON ION EFFECT:

(1) The presence of a common ion suppresses the

dissociation of weak acid / base but the effect in a strong
electrolyte is negligible because strong electrolyte
dissociates completely making it irreversible.
(2) When adding common cations, the concentration of the
salt increases slightly because the anions are consumed,
consequently when you add common anions to the buffer
solution will cause the salt to dissociate more and thus
the concentration of the anion increases.
(3) Addition of common ions decreases the solubility of
slightly soluble salts.
RECOMMENDATIONS
• To minimize experimental errors, the reagents
should be sealed properly after use so that it would
not be contaminated.
• The instruments to be utilized should be properly
washed before and after the experiment so that it
could give accurate measurements.
• To reduce human mistakes, students should learn to
strictly follow the steps and procedures as indicated
in the laboratory manual.
WORKS CITED
http://www.citycollegiate.com/commonion_
effect.htm
Chang, R. Chemistry. McGraw-Hill
Companies, Inc. Boston, Massachusetts. 
Brown,T. et.al. 2004. Chemistry: The
Central Science, 9th ed. Prentice Hall.
Petrucci and Wismer. General Chemistry
with Qualitative Analysis. McMillan
Publishing Company. New York.