Video narration
What happens when two clear solutions of silver nitrate and sodium chloride are mixed? You might expect them to stay clear, like salt in water. Instead, a white precipitate-a new solid-appears immediately. Silver ions and chloride ions join, forming insoluble silver chloride. The balanced equation is AgNO3(aq) + NaCl(aq) → AgCl(s) + NaNO3(aq). Sodium nitrate remains dissolved. The solid appears because silver and chloride ions form silver chloride, which does not dissolve.