Consider the chromate/dichromate ion equilibrium:
2 CrO4^2-(aq) + 2 H+(aq) ⇌ Cr2O7^2-(aq) + H2O(l)
yellow orange
a) What color will a solution be, if it contains only K2CrO4?
b) Add H2SO4 to the K2CrO4 solution. H2SO4 is a strong acid that dissociates to increase [H+] in the solution according to the following reactions.
H2SO4(aq) → H+(aq) + HSO4^-(aq)
HSO4^-(aq) ⇌ H+(aq) + SO4^2-(aq)
How does increasing the concentration of H+ affect the chromate/dichromate equilibrium position? What color will the solution be after we add H2SO4?
c) When we add NaOH to the solution, it dissociates to form Na+ and OH-. What does OH- react with in the solution? How does this reaction affect the chromate/dichromate equilibrium position? What color will the solution be?