Common Ion Effect

 Learning Objectives
Recognize common ions from various salts, acids, and bases.
Calculate concentrations involving common ions.
Calculate ion concentrations involving chemical equilibrium.

The common-ion effect is used to describe the effect on an equilibrium when one or more species in the reaction is shared with
another reaction. This results in a shifitng of the equilibrium properties.

Introduction
The solubility products Ksp's are equilibrium constants in hetergeneous equilibria (i.e., between two different phases). If several
salts are present in a system, they all ionize in the solution. If the salts contain a common cation or anion, these salts contribute to
the concentration of the common ion. Contributions from all salts must be included in the calculation of concentration of the
common ion. For example, a solution containing sodium chloride and potassium chloride will have the following relationship:
+ + −
[Na ] + [K ] = [C l ]

Consideration of charge balance or mass balance or both leads to the same conclusion.

Common Ions
When NaCl and KCl are dissolved in the same solution, the Cl ions are common to both salts. In a system containing NaCl and
−

KCl, the Cl ions are common ions.

−

+ −
NaCl ⇌ Na + Cl

+ −
KCl ⇌ K + Cl

2 + −
CaCl ⇌ Ca + 2 Cl
2

3 + −
AlCl ⇌ Al + 3 Cl
3

+ −
AgCl ⇌ Ag + Cl

For example, when AgCl is dissolved into a solution already containing NaCl (actually Na and Cl ions), the Cl ions come
+ − −

from the ionization of both AgCl and NaCl. Thus, [Cl ] differs from [Ag ]. The following examples show how the concentration
− +

of the common ion is calculated.

 Example 1

What are [Na ], [Cl ], [Ca

+ − 2+
, and [H
]
+
] in a solution containing 0.10 M each of NaCl, CaCl , and HCl? 2

Solution
Due to the conservation of ions, we have
+ 2 + +
[ Na ]=[ Ca ]=[ H ]=0.10 M.

but
−
[ Cl ] = 0.10 (due to NaCl)

+ 0.20 (due to CaCl )

2

+ 0.10 (due to HCl)

= 0.40 M

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  Exercise 1

John poured 10.0 mL of 0.10 M NaCl, 10.0 mL of 0.10 M KOH , and 5.0 mL of 0.20 M HCl solutions together and then he
made the total volume to be 100.0 mL. What is [Cl ] in the final solution?
−

0.1 M × 10 mL + 0.2 M × 5.0 mL

−
[C l ] = = 0.020 M
100.0 mL

Le Chatelier's Principle states that if an equilibrium becomes unbalanced, the reaction will shift to restore the balance. If a common
ion is added to a weak acid or weak base equilibrium, then the equilibrium will shift towards the reactants, in this case the weak
acid or base.

 Example 2

Consider the lead(II) ion concentration in this saturated solution of PbCl . The balanced reaction is
2

2 + −
PbCl (s) −
↽⇀
− Pb (aq) + 2 Cl (aq) (1)
2

Defining s as the concentration of dissolved lead(II) chloride, then:

2+
[P b ] =s

−
[C l ] = 2s

These values can be substituted into the solubility product expression, which can be solved for s :
2+ − 2
Ksp = [P b ][C l ]

2
= s × (2s)

−5 3
1.7 × 10 = 4s

−5
3
1.7 × 10
s =
4

−6
= 4.25 × 10

3
−−−−−−−− −
−6
s = √ 4.25 × 10

−2 −3
= 1.62 × 10 mol dm

The concentration of lead(II) ions in the solution is 1.62 x 10-2 M. Consider what happens if sodium chloride is added to this
saturated solution. Sodium chloride shares an ion with lead(II) chloride. The chloride ion is common to both of them; this is
the origin of the term "common ion effect".
Look at the original equilibrium expression in Equation 1. What happens to that equilibrium if extra chloride ions are added?
According to Le Chatelier, the position of equilibrium will shift to counter the change, in this case, by removing the chloride
ions by making extra solid lead(II) chloride.
Of course, the concentration of lead(II) ions in the solution is so small that only a tiny proportion of the extra chloride ions can
be converted into solid lead(II) chloride. The lead(II) chloride becomes even less soluble, and the concentration of lead(II) ions
in the solution decreases. This type of response occurs with any sparingly soluble substance: it is less soluble in a solution
which contains any ion which it has in common. This is the common ion effect.

A Simple Example
If an attempt is made to dissolve some lead(II) chloride in some 0.100 M sodium chloride solution instead of in water, what is the
equilibrium concentration of the lead(II) ions this time? As before, define s to be the concentration of the lead(II) ions.
2 +
[ Pb ] =s

The calculations are different from before. This time the concentration of the chloride ions is governed by the concentration of the
sodium chloride solution. The number of ions coming from the lead(II) chloride is going to be tiny compared with the 0.100 M

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coming from the sodium chloride solution.
In calculations like this, it can be assumed that the concentration of the common ion is entirely due to the other solution. This
simplifies the calculation.
So we assume:
−
[ Cl ] = 0.100 M

The rest of the mathematics looks like this:

2+ − 2
Ksp = [P b ][C l ]

2
= s × (0.100)

−5
1.7 × 10 = s × 0.00100

therefore:
−5
1.7 × 10
s =
0.0100

−3
= 1.7 × 10 M

Finally, compare that value with the simple saturated solution:

Original solution:
2 +
[ Pb ] = 0.0162 M

Solution in 0.100 M NaCl solution:

2 +
[ Pb ] = 0.0017 M

The concentration of the lead(II) ions has decreased by a factor of about 10. If more concentrated solutions of sodium chloride are
used, the solubility decreases further.

Adding a common ion to a system at equilibrium affects the equilibrium composition, but not the ionization constant.

Common Ion Effect with Weak Acids and Bases

Adding a common ion prevents the weak acid or weak base from ionizing as much as it would without the added common ion. The
common ion effect suppresses the ionization of a weak acid by adding more of an ion that is a product of this equilibrium.

 Example 3A

The common ion effect of H 3

+
O on the ionization of acetic acid

The common ion effect can be conceptualized as an applied Le Chatelier effect. Adding products will shift the equilibrium to
more favor the reactants. (CC BY-NC 4.0; Ümit Kaya via LibreTexts)

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 The common ion effect suppresses the ionization of a weak base by adding more of an ion that is a product of this equilibrium.

 Example 3B

Consider the common ion effect of OH on the ionization of ammonia

−

The common ion effect can be conceptualized as an applied Le Chatelier effect. Adding products will shift the equilibrium to
more favor the reactants. (CC BY-NC 4.0; Ümit Kaya via LibreTexts)
Adding the common ion of hydroxide shifts the reaction towards the left to decrease the stress (in accordance with Le
Chatelier's Principle), forming more reactants. This decreases the reaction quotient, because the reaction is being pushed
towards the left to reach equilibrium. The equilibrium constant, K = 1.8 × 10 , does not change. The reaction is put out of
b
−5

balance, or equilibrium.
+ −
[ NH ][ OH ]
4
Qa =
[ NH ]
3

At first, when more hydroxide is added, the quotient is greater than the equilibrium constant. The reaction then shifts right,
causing the denominator to increase, decreasing the reaction quotient and pulling towards equilibrium and causing Q to
decrease towards K .

Common Ion Effect on Solubility

Adding a common ion decreases solubility, as the reaction shifts toward the left to relieve the stress of the excess product. Adding a
common ion to a dissociation reaction causes the equilibrium to shift left, toward the reactants, causing precipitation.

 Example 4

Consider the reaction:

2 + −
PbCl (s) −
↽⇀
− Pb (aq) + 2 Cl (aq)
2

What happens to the solubility of PbCl 2

(s) when 0.1 M NaCl is added?

Solution
−5
Ksp = 1.7 × 10

−5
Qsp = 1.8 × 10

Identify the common ion: Cl −

Notice: Q > K The addition of NaCl has caused the reaction to shift out of equilibrium because there are more
sp sp

dissociated ions. Typically, solving for the molarities requires the assumption that the solubility of PbCl (s) is equivalent to
2

the concentration of Pb produced because they are in a 1:1 ratio.

2 +

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 The common ion effect can be conceptualized as an applied Le Chatelier effect. Adding products will shift the equilibrium to
more favor the reactants. (CC BY-NC 4.0; Ümit Kaya via LibreTexts)
Because K sp for the reaction is 1.7 × 10
−5
, the overall reaction would be
2 −5
(s)(2s) = 1.7 × 10 .

Solving the equation for s gives s = 1.62 × 10 M . The coefficient on Cl is 2, so it is assumed that twice as much Cl is
−2 − −

produced as Pb , hence the '2s.' The solubility equilibrium constant can be used to solve for the molarities of the ions at
2 +

equilibrium.
The molarity of Cl- added would be 0.1 M because Na and Cl are in a 1:1 ratio in the ionic salt, NaCl. Therefore, the
+ −

overall molarity of Cl would be 2s + 0.1 , with 2s referring to the contribution of the chloride ion from the dissociation of
−

lead chloride.
2 + − 2
Qsp = [ Pb ][ Cl ]

−5
= 1.8 × 10

2
= (s)(2s + 0.1)

2+
s = [P b ]

−3
= 1.8 × 10 M

−
2s = [ Cl ]

≈ 0.1M

Notice that the molarity of Pb is lower when NaCl is added. The equilibrium constant remains the same because of the
2 +

increased concentration of the chloride ion. To simplify the reaction, it can be assumed that [Cl ] is approximately 0.1 M since
−

the formation of the chloride ion from the dissociation of lead chloride is so small. The reaction quotient for PbCl (s) is 2

greater than the equilibrium constant because of the added Cl . This therefore shift the reaction left towards equilibrium,
−

causing precipitation and lowering the current solubility of the reaction. Overall, the solubility of the reaction decreases with
the added sodium chloride.

References
1. Harwood, William S., F. G. Herring, Jeffry D. Madura, and Ralph H. Petrucci. General Chemistry Principles and Modern
Applications. 9th ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2007.

Common Ion Effect is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Chung (Peter) Chieh, Jim Clark, Emmellin
Tung, Mahtab Danai, & Mahtab Danai.

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