Potassium chloride
- Formula: KCl
- Hill system formula: Cl1K1
- CAS registry number: [7447-40-7]
- Formula weight: 74.551
- Class: chloride
- Colour: white
- Appearance: crystalline solid
- Melting point: 771°C
- Boiling point: 1500°C
- Density: 1988 kg m-3
The following are some synonyms of potassium chloride:
- potassium chloride
- potassium(I) chloride
- sylvite
The oxidation number of potassium in potassium chloride is 1.
Synthesis
One way to make potassium chloride is to react the hydroxide with hydrochloric acid. The resulting salt can then be purified by recrystallization. In practice however, potassium chloride is available in massive amounts in nature and can simply be recrystallized to recover it.
KOH(aq) + HCl(aq) → KCl(aq) + H2O(l)
While not a normal route of preparation because of the expense, potassium metal reacts vigorously with all the halogens to form potassium halides. So, it burns with chlorine, Cl2, to form potassium(I) chloride, KCl.
2K(s) + Cl2(g) → 2KCl(s)
Solid state structure
- Geometry of potassium: 6 coordinate: octahedral
- Prototypical structure: NaCl (rock salt)
Element analysis
The table shows element percentages for KCl (potassium chloride).
| Element | % |
|---|---|
| Cl | 47.55 |
| K | 52.45 |
Isotope pattern for KCl
The chart below shows the calculated isotope pattern for the formula KCl with the most intense ion set to 100%.
References
The data on these compounds pages are assembled and adapted from the primary literature and several other sources including the following.
- R.T. Sanderson in Chemical Periodicity, Reinhold, New York, USA, 1960.
- N.N. Greenwood and A. Earnshaw in Chemistry of the Elements, 2nd edition, Butterworth, UK, 1997.
- F.A. Cotton, G. Wilkinson, C.A. Murillo, and M. Bochmann, in Advanced Inorganic Chemistry, John Wiley & Sons, 1999.
- A.F. Trotman-Dickenson, (ed.) in Comprehensive Inorganic Chemistry, Pergamon, Oxford, UK, 1973.
- R.W.G. Wyckoff, in Crystal Structures, volume 1, Interscience, John Wiley & Sons, 1963.
- A.R.West in Basic solid state chemistry Chemistry, John Wiley & Sons, 1999.
- A.F. Wells in Structural inorganic chemistry, 4th edition, Oxford, UK, 1975.
- J.D.H. Donnay, (ed.) in Crystal data determinative tables, ACA monograph number 5, American Crystallographic Association, USA, 1963.
- D.R. Lide, (ed.) in Chemical Rubber Company handbook of chemistry and physics, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, USA, 77th edition, 1996.
- J.W. Mellor in A comprehensive treatise on inorganic and theoretical chemistry, volumes 1-16, Longmans, London, UK, 1922-1937.
- J.E. Macintyre (ed.) in Dictionary of inorganic compounds, volumes 1-3, Chapman & Hall, London, UK, 1992.