Chemical Properties
In chemistry and physics, it is a very commonly used standard, for example as a calibration standard solution in measuring electrical conductivity of (ionic) solutions, since carefully prepared KCl solutions have well-reproducible and well-repeatable measurable properties.
| Solubility of KCl in various solvents (g KCl / 1 kg of solvent at 25°C) |
|
|---|---|
| H2O | 360 |
| Liquid ammonia | 0.4 |
| Liquid sulfur dioxide | 0.41 |
| Methanol | 5.3 |
| Formic acid | 192 |
| Sulfolane | 0.04 |
| Acetonitrile | 0.024 |
| Acetone | 0.00091 |
| Formamide | 62 |
| Acetamide | 24.5 |
| Dimethylformamide | 0.17–0.5 |
Potassium chloride can react as a source of chloride ion. As with any other soluble ionic chloride, it will precipitate insoluble chloride salts when added to a solution of an appropriate metal ion:
- KCl(aq) + AgNO3(aq) → AgCl(s) + KNO3(aq)
Although potassium is more electropositive than sodium, KCl can be reduced to the metal by reaction with metallic sodium at 850°C because the potassium is removed by distillation (see Le Chatelier's principle):
- KCl(l) + Na(l) ⇌ NaCl(l) + K(g)
This method is the main method for producing metallic potassium. Electrolysis (used for sodium) fails because of the high solubility of potassium in molten KCl.
As with other compounds containing potassium, KCl in powdered form gives a lilac flame test result.
Read more about this topic: Potassium Chloride
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