Question

A solution of potassium chloride when mixed with silver nitrate solution, an insoluble white substance is formed. Write the chemical reaction involved and also mention the type of the chemical reaction?
$(a) {\text{ }}$Precipitation reaction
$(b) {\text{ }}$Double displacement reaction
$(c) {\text{ }}$Decomposition reaction
$(d) {\text{ }}$Endothermic reaction

Answer 1

Hint: Write down the balanced chemical reaction and then try to figure out the nature of the products so obtained and then compare the products of the given reaction with the products obtained from the various other chemical reactions.

Complete step by step solution:
We have the balanced chemical equation for the reaction as:
$KCl(s) + AgN{O_3}(aq) \to AgCl(s) + KN{O_3}(aq)$
Here, we can see that when $KCl$ is reacted with $AgN{O_3}$, both the reactants exchange their ions for the formation of new products and an insoluble white precipitate of silver chloride $(AgCl)$ is also formed.
We know that, in a double displacement reaction, the two compounds react together and the positive ions and the negative ions of these compounds switch their positions to form the new compounds.
Also, in the precipitation reactions, the reaction between two soluble salts lead to the formation of an insoluble salt that falls out of the solution in the form of a precipitate.
Therefore, the above given balanced reaction can be of both double displacement reaction as well as the precipitation reaction. Usually, the precipitation reactions are the double displacement reactions which involve the production of a solid form residue which is called the precipitate.
Hence, the correct solution are the options $(a)$ and $(b)$.

Note: The components of the chemical reactions must be broken into its ionic form, as the reaction mechanism will help in determining the position of the positive and the negative ions of the compounds. The precipitation reactions can be used to determine the presence of various ionic components present in the solution.