HCl & Carbonate

[ThinkDoc]

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If you have solution with (SO4)^2- and CO32- and add HCl, how come you get CO2 and not SO3 gas?

 

[LoLCareerGoals]

First off HCl is a strong acid that will completely dissociate into H+ and Cl-.
Now which of the 2 anions will get the H+s?
Clearly H2C03 is a much weaker acid than the strong H2SO4. (SO4)^-2 is quite OK with being an anion being a conjugate base of a strong acid.
(CO3)^-2 is a strong base though. It wants those H+ bad. Now that we gave it some by dissolving some HCl, it will form H2CO3. That acid though tends to break into H20 and C02 though. Hence the C02 gas.