Why is AgCl not soluble in nitric acid while Ag3PO4 is?
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The solubility of different compounds in a particular solvent depends on their respective chemical properties and interactions with the solvent molecules.
In the case of AgCl (silver chloride) and nitric acid (HNO3), the reason why AgCl is not soluble in nitric acid while Ag3PO4 (silver phosphate) is can be explained by their respective solubility and reaction mechanisms.
AgCl is insoluble in nitric acid because of the high stability of silver chloride as a solid. AgCl is a sparingly soluble salt, which means it dissolves to a very small extent in water. When AgCl is added to nitric acid, there is no significant interaction or reaction between the silver chloride and the nitric acid molecules. Therefore, AgCl does not dissolve in nitric acid because the intermolecular forces between the AgCl particles are stronger than the forces between the AgCl particles and the molecules of nitric acid.
On the other hand, Ag3PO4 is soluble in nitric acid due to the reaction that occurs between the silver phosphate and the nitric acid. When Ag3PO4 is added to nitric acid, the acid reacts with the silver phosphate to form soluble silver nitrate (AgNO3) and phosphoric acid (H3PO4). The chemical reaction can be represented as follows:
Ag3PO4 + 3HNO3 → 3AgNO3 + H3PO4
Since both the products of the reaction, AgNO3 and H3PO4, are soluble in water, the silver phosphate dissolves in nitric acid.
So, in summary, AgCl is not soluble in nitric acid because there is no significant reaction between AgCl and HNO3. On the other hand, Ag3PO4 is soluble in nitric acid due to the reaction between Ag3PO4 and HNO3, which forms soluble products.