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Why Fe on reaction with HCl gives ferrous chloride and not ferric chloride?

Why Fe on reaction with HCl gives ferrous chloride and not ferric chloride?

Grade:12

2 Answers

Ramesh V
70 Points
14 years ago

Fe(s) + HCl(aq) ---> FeCl2 (aq) + H2 (g)

Balanced: Fe(s) + 2HCl(aq) ---> FeCl2 (aq) + H2 (g)

HCl is strong acid and Fecl2 is soluble ionic compund. Both have ions as major species in their solution.These ions replace the compunds in the total ionic equation.

Production:

Hydrated forms of ferrous chloride are generated by treatment of wastes from steel production with hydrochloric acid. Such solutions are designated "spent acid," especially when the hydrochloric acid is not completely consumed:

Fe + 2 HCl → FeCl2 + H2

The spent acid requires treatment before its disposal. It is also byproduct from titanium production, since some titanium ores contain iron

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regards

Ramesh


Sammy
11 Points
6 years ago
HCl is not an oxidizing acid, so directly getting FeCl3 is not possible, but even with dilute HNO3 you only get Ferric nitrate as HNO3 is a very oxidizing acid. HCl is as strong as HNO3 but non oxidizing. The Fe2+/Fe3+ conversion is too high in terms of oxidation potential for HCl. That’s the clue. Hope it helps.

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