Eli5 why can’t iodine dissolve in muriatic acid very well unless you add sodium hydroxide?
In: Chemistry
I can’t comment for sure on why the addition of hydroxide somehow makes it soluble, but the iodine doesn’t dissolve in muriatic acid (HCl for people like me who had to google that) because Cl is a stronger oxidiser than I, so I can’t displace the Cl from the H which it needs to to dissolve.
In general, iodine isn’t very soluble in water based solvents, you’d need an organic one to properly dissolve it. So the hydroxide has me stumped.
Though as u/TortureSteak says, I feel like I’m answering someone’s homework
This is a weirdly specific question for eli5….
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