Chapter 19, Problem 77AP

Interpretation Introduction

Interpretation:

Whether the mercury (I) ion exists in the solution as ${\text{Hg}}^{+}$ or as ${\text{Hg}}_2^{2+}$ is to bepredicted.

Concept introduction:

The Nernst equation is an important equation in electrochemistry and is represented below.

$E=E^{\text{o}}-\frac{\text{R}T}{n\text{F}}\ln Q$

Here, $\text{R}$ is the universal gas constant, $n$ is the number of moles, $\text{F}$ is the Faraday constant, and $Q$ is the reaction quotient.

For equilibrium reaction $\text{aA+bB }\rightleftharpoons \text{cC+dD}$, where a, b, c, and d are the stoichiometric coefficients for the balanced reaction, $Q$ determine as follows:

$\text{Q= }\frac{{\left[\text{C}\right]}^{\text{c}}{\left[\text{D}\right]}^{\text{d}}}{{\left[\text{A}\right]}^{\text{a}}{\left[\text{B}\right]}^{\text{b}}}$