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Thu 16 Dec, 2004 08:54 am
Hi, I added a potassium hydroxide solution to a ferric chloride FeCl3.Am I getting the name right?.Ok, we know that the colour of FeCl3 is red.The result of this adding was that colour changed to white at once.
What happened exactly?
If we follow the eqaution we will see the result should be potassium chloride and Fe(OH)3.The lates is the rust.So, in this case the new solution should be green maybe not colourless.
My guess
I think that what happened is that the iron in the presence of a salt quickly reacted to form Fe2O3 and that precipitated out of solution, taking the red color with it. If I remember correctly, the iron hydroxide form you mentioned is not rust, it is an intermediate step on the way to rust. It further reacts with oxygen to reach its final form. Did you see precipitate form when you added the potassium hydroxide?
No precipitate, just the colour.
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