aqueous solution - solutions in which water is the dissolving medium  

• water able to dissolve wide assortment of substances
• most chemical reactions require water to take place
• solution - homogeneous mixture of 2+ substances
• solvent - substance in the solution in greater quantity
• solute - other substances besides the solvent in a solution

electrolytic properties - conducts electricity due to the ions floating in the solution 

• electrolyte - substance whose aqueous solution contains ions
• nonelectrolyte - substance whose aqueous solution doesn't contain ions
• usually only ionic compounds can form electrolytic solutions
• polarity of water breaks apart ionic compounds and keeps them apart
• certain molecular substances (ex. acids) can break into ions
• strong electrolyte - dissociates completely into ions
• weak electrolyte - dissociates partly into ions; ions and original compound exists in a state of chemical equilibrium (reversible reaction)
• double arrow - represents ionization of weak electrolytes
• single arrow - represents ionization of strong electrolytes
• soluble ionic compounds are strong electrolytes

precipitation reaction - reactions that result in the formation of an insoluble product 

• precipitate - insoluble solid formed by a reaction in the solution
• occurs when oppositely charged ions attract each other so strongly that they form an insoluble solid
• solubility - amount of substance that can be dissolved in a given quantity of water
• insoluble - defines any substance w/ solubility less than 0.01 mol/L
• in reactions between 2 strong electrolytes, determine all the possible combinations of ions to see which are soluble

soluble ionic compounds

• all compounds containing nitrate (NO3-)
• all compounds containing C2H3O2-
• all compounds containing ammonium (NH4+)
• all compounds containing alkali metals
• compounds w/ chloride (Cl-) besides thoses w/ Ag+, Hg22+, Pb2+
• compounds w/ bromide (Br-) besides those w/ Ag+, Hg22+, Pb2+
• compounds w/ iodine (I-) besides those w/ Ag+, Hg22+, Pb2+
• compounds w/ sulfate (SO4 2-) besides those w/ Sr2+, Ba2+, Hg22+, Pb2+

insoluble ionic compounds

• compounds w/ sulfide (S2-) besides those w/ Ca2+, Sr2+, Ba2+
• compounds w/ carbonate (CO32-)
• compounds w/ phosphate (PO43-)
• compounds w/ hydroxide (OH-) besides those w/ Ca2+, Sr2+, Ba2+

metathesis (exchange) reactions - reactions where ions exchange partners

• ex. single replacement or double replacement reactions
• occurs in precipitation/acid-base reactions

ionic equations - sometimes useful to show if the dissolved substances are ions or molecules

• molecular equation - shows chemical formulas of reactants/products w/o indicating ionic characteristics
• complete ionic equation - equation written showing all soluble electrolytes as ions
• spectator ions - ions that appear in identical forms on both sides of an equation
• net ionic equation - when spectator ions are left out
• if all ions in a complete ionic equation are spectators, then no reaction occurs
• more than 1 set of reactants can result in the same net ionic equation