Please help and explain to me clearly......a wastewater contains various cations such as Na, K, Mg, Ca, Ba, Fe, Cu, Zn, and Al; the pH of the wastewater is approx. 6.0
To that wastewater is added H3PO4 (phosphoric acid) in an approximate dose of .00034 gals of H3PO4 per gallon of wastewater.
less concerned about the stoichiometry and believe I can figure that out, but I did notice in the lab that the greatest mass and volume of precipitate was aluminum, then zinc etc.
Help me understand specifically why the dissociated phosphate ion would prefer to bond with cations like Al and Zn. I think I know why but help me better understand.