Question

Write the precipitation reaction for zinc carbonate in aqueous solution:

(use the lowest possible coefficients. be sure to specify states such as (aq) or (s). if a box is not needed, leave it blank.)

______ + _____ → ______
is zinc carbonate considered soluble or not soluble?
O soluble
O not soluble

Answer 1

Zinc carbonate does not dissolve in water, and thus does not participate in a typical precipitation reaction. It remains a solid due to being considered insoluble per solubility rules.

Step-by-step explanation:

The precipitation reaction for zinc carbonate (ZnCO3) in aqueous solution does not actually involve components that dissolve to then form a precipitate, because zinc carbonate is not soluble in water.

The solid simply remains as a solid when placed in water. However, if it did dissolve and re-precipitate, the equation (hypothetically speaking) would be ZnCO3(s) → Zn2+(aq) + CO32−(aq) → ZnCO3(s). Since zinc carbonate is a carbonate other than those of potassium, sodium, and ammonium, it is not soluble according to solubility rules.

The proper answer to the question of solubility is that zinc carbonate is not soluble in aqueous solution.