In addition to being able to conduct electricity, when ions come into contact with each other in solution it is possible that a precipitate might form. We can use a set of guidelines to predict precipitate formation know as the “Solubility Guidelines.”
4.2 Precipitation Reactions
Once we have determined if a precipitate forms we need a convention to express the reactions happening in solution. A Net Ionic Equation represents the ions and molecules directly involved in metathesis reactions.
4.2 Metathesis and Net Ionic Equations