When aqueous HCl is added to a saturated salt water solution, is NaCl the only precipitate or does some HCl crystalize as well?

Sources online say that NaCl crystallizes but they don't say what happens to the HCl

https://bouman.chem.georgetown.edu/S02/lect8/lect8.htm http://www.csun.edu/~ml727939/coursework/695/common%20ion%20effect/recrystallization%20of%20NaCl%20solution%20with%20HCl.htm


closed as off-topic by Mithoron, A.K., Todd Minehardt, Soumik Das, Jan Mar 26 at 6:21



  • $\begingroup$ I would guess that excess HCl will either continue to displace NaCl or be left in the gas phase. $\endgroup$ – Oscar Lanzi Mar 24 at 1:41
  • $\begingroup$ Even if the HCl is aqueous? $\endgroup$ – Jim Mar 24 at 1:50
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ HCl is a gas at nominal room temperature and pressure. If you leave a container of HCl acid (HCl in water) open, then the water in the solution will evaporate, and the HCl will go back into the gas phase. There would be no HCl ppt. $\endgroup$ – MaxW Mar 24 at 2:10
  • $\begingroup$ HCl and H2O form a high boiling azeotrop at near 20% of HCl. Any HCl solution, when evaporated, converges to final concentration of the azeotrop. So evaporating the concentrated HCl will provide mainly gaseous HCl. $\endgroup$ – Poutnik Mar 24 at 6:54

$\ce{HCl}$ is at ambient conditions a gas, very well soluble in water, dissociating as a strong acid.

When there is excess of it in solution, that cannot be kept solved, it does not precipitate, but evaporates or even boils out, depending on scenario.

