Obligatory pm GreatGazoo, etc, etc.

I'm having an incredibly difficult time getting a problem correct and it seems to me it should be straightforward.

Chemical -> Comp1 + 4Comp2 Ksp = 2e-10
enough 0 0.5
-x +x +4x
some x 0.5 + 4x

By the common ion effect, the final concentration of Comp2 should remain at 0.5 since the value of x will be negligible. By this logic, Ksp (2e-10) = 0.5x and I should simply be able to solve for x ; however, the answer I get turns up completely wrong. If anyone has any ideas as to where I'm going wrong I would appreciate it.

[Edited on August 2, 2007 at 9:04 PM. Reason : bah, formatting still sucks]

8/2/2007 9:03:52 PM

What does it say it is asking for? Write to problem as worded. For what you have, you are right that the value of x would just be 4e-10.

8/6/2007 1:56:57 PM