a. Spectator ions are the ones that are present but does not enter into the actual chemical reaction.
b. Na⁺ and NO₃⁻ ions are spectator ions involved in this above mentioned reaction
Explanation:
- In redox reactions, for example reaction of aqueous silver nitrate and aqueous sodium chloride, silver chloride settles down as a precipitate by the addition of Ag⁺ ion from AgNO₃ and Cl⁻ ions from NaCl .
- The other 2 ions that is NO₃⁻ ion and Na⁺ ion in the reaction do not enter into the reaction and they are called as Spectator ions.
This can be expressed as the following equation,
AgNO₃(aq) + NaCl(aq) →AgCl(s) + NaNO₃