Unanswered Questions
297 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
7
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Dry water using graphite
Dry water or "powdered water" is essentially a bunch of extremely small water droplets surrounded by $\ce{SiO2}$.
Some time ago, I was messing around and mixed some powdered graphite with water. (The ...
6
votes
0
answers
164
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Why is supersaturated sodium acetate so (meta)stable?
Sodium acetate is a common example used in general chemistry lectures to illustrate the idea of supersaturation, and that precipitation of a supersaturated solution can be initiated by a seed crystal. ...
6
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0
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775
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How can copper(II) sulfate crystallize outside a glass vial?
I'm making copper sulfate crystals in glasses. Within a few weeks, the copper sulfate seems to crystallize both inside and outside the glass:
(A few weeks after making a new solution)
(Yet another ...
6
votes
0
answers
410
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Density of non-ideal vapor mixtures
I'm looking for a reasonably accurate density of a mixture of two gases that act quite unlike ideal gases (generally steam and water-miscible solvents). We can get a first order estimate by taking a ...
5
votes
0
answers
187
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What pH value of 1M sodium crotonate solution supposed to be?
I need to prepare the $\pu{1M}$ solution of sodium crotonate, however, I don't have one in lab, but I do have sodium hydroxide and crotonic acid.
Thus, I calculated that for $\pu{100 mL}$ of $\pu{1M}$ ...
5
votes
0
answers
793
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Solubility of PbSO4
The solubility of $\ce{PbSO4(s)}$ increase with the addition of $\ce{H2SO4}.$ Why?
I don't quite understand this. When dissolving $\ce{PbSO4(s)}$ we get the equilibrium equation:
$$\ce{PbSO4(s) <=...
5
votes
0
answers
159
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Where is my antimony going?
I work in a trace metals laboratory operating an ICP-OES. I've been having some trouble with the recovery of antimony in a weak $\ce{HCl}$ solution post-digestion.
The antimony is part of a mix of ...
5
votes
0
answers
130
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Raoult's law: is the molar fraction the molar fraction in the entire system?
I have two physical chemistry textbooks, one by Atkins and one by Levine, which seem to differ in their notation used when describing Raoult's law.
Atkins talks about the molar fraction term in ...
4
votes
1
answer
234
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How does a silver chloride electrode (Ag/AgCl) convert the potential in aqueous solution to the wire?
I am aware of the redox chemistry that happens at the electrode surface, but I'm not sure how exactly a change in electrical potential in the solution would change the potential in the electrode?
4
votes
0
answers
86
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Notation for spectral density in experimental community
In an open quantum system setup where the system is coupled to infinite harmonic oscillators as bath (as in the Caldeira leggett model, for example), through the Hamiltonian,
$$H = \frac{\hat{p}^2}{2m}...
4
votes
1
answer
366
views
Variation of conductance of saturated aqueous solution with temperature
The following question was asked in JEE Mains 2020:
Let $C_{\ce{NaCl}}$ and $C_{\ce{BaSO4}}$ be the conductances (in S) measured for saturated aqueous solutions of $\ce{NaCl}$ and $\ce{BaSO4}$, ...
4
votes
0
answers
254
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Why does viscosity decrease when divalent cations are dissolved into aqueous solutions of sodium carboxymethylcellulose?
Sodium Carboxymethylcellulose (CMC/NaCMC/Aqualon) is a common product used in many instances for its unique properties, especially its ability to make solutions viscous. It is well known that the ...
4
votes
0
answers
2k
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How to break down soap and detergents?
I am building a greywater harvesting system. It is a 3-stage system:
The 1st stage breaks down soap and detergents.
The 2nd stage filters the water.
The 3rd stage pumps water out of system.
What ...
3
votes
0
answers
27
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Non-binding buffer at pKa of roughly 6 that dissolves in ethanol?
I'm trying to find a proper buffer for my experiment, which I'd appreciate some suggestions on. I have a solution in which I want to measure the concentration of magnesium ions using a fluorescent ...
3
votes
1
answer
55
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Experiment on pH vs Rate of Electrolysis - what do the results actually say?
My experimental setup looks at using different pH solutions (of $\ce{H2SO4}$ and $\ce{NaOH}$) for electrolysis of water with a Hoffman setup and then measuring the rate of production of gas (note this ...