Anhydrous CoCl2 is blue; CoCl2•6H2O is red. When CoCl2•6H2O is heated and water is clearly being driven off, it becomes uniformly violet before turning blue. How can this be explained?

Question

Chemistry

Laurel Mcclain

25 June, 08:29

Anhydrous CoCl2 is blue; CoCl2•6H2O is red. When CoCl2•6H2O is heated and water is clearly being driven off, it becomes uniformly violet before turning blue. How can this be explained?

+3

Answers (1)

Know the Answer?

Xiomara Guerrero · Answer 1

Answer: On losing 6 moles of water, cobalt chloride forms unstable violet-coloured ions, before generating its stable blue-coloured anhydrous form.

Explanation:

The hydrated cobalt chloride loses its 6 water of crystallization, then dissociates into ions: cobalt ions and chlorine ions that appear violet, and quickly combined to form the stable anhydrous Cobalt chloride with blue colour.