Calculate the concentration of Hg2+, HgCl+, and HgCl2 that result when 1.00 L of a 0.100M Hg(NO3)2 solution is mixed with an equal volume of 0.100M HgCl2 solution. The hint says to use the same analogy as an amphoteric acid/base equilibrium.
I took this to mean that HgCl+ which can either become Hg2+ or HgCl2 is similar to an amphoteric species such as HCO3- (which can become H2CO3 or CO3^2-). Using this analogy, is it possible to use the equation given in Chapter 15.9 regarding amphoteric species and simply replace the corresponding concentrations/K values?
The equationgiven in 15.9was
[H3O+] = Ka2*[HCO3-]/[H3O+] - [H3O+][HCO3-]/Ka1 + Kw/[H3O+]
Translating this to the complex ion equilibrium would mean replacing
[H3O+] with [Cl-]
[HCO3-] with [HgCl-]
Ka1 with K1 = [HgCl-][Cl-]/[HgCl2]
Ka2 with K2 = [Hg2+][Cl-]/[HgCl-]
Kw with Ksp (of HgCl2solid) = [Hg2+][Cl-]^2