What is the underlying reason of why some salts (ie PbSO4) are

Lead is heavy (high atomic number) and has a low valence relative to its size. There's a lot to do with band structure and screening, but mass and size tell you a lot.

>>8978151
Whats band structure and screening?

Also, wat about its size makes it makes it not likely to go into solution? Why does it dissolve in strong acid?

>>8978181
It's like keeping a soccer ball in the air vs keeping a balloon in the air. One's a lot lighter/more bouyant, and so won't just fall down. Falling down in the air is like not dissolving in water.

Band structure and screening are quantum mechanics stuff. Don't worry about those if you don't want to.

>>8978212
Id like to worry about that. I boight Physical Chemistry by Quarrie to read over the summer. Will it likely be in there? Can you recommend other texts?

>>8978141
Man this duck deep in human territory gives such an aggressive vibe

Sometimes, its better to be separated from the Ion you're with in order to hook up with water molecules you could hook up with.

Remember, you'll be running back to those Ions when the water molecules dry up.

This is hard-soft acid base theory. As someone previously said, ions of similar size will bond stronger because the orbitals defining their electrons have better overlap. In layman's terms, it's easier to hold hands with someone when your hands are closer in size. So if you had two salts, lithium iodide (hard cation, soft anion) and cesium fluoride (soft cation, hard anion), both would quickly dissolve in water because they bond less efficiently. Lithium fluoride (hard cation, hard anion) and cesium iodide (soft cation, soft anion) would precipitate out because they bond much better and have less preference towards being ions.

Lead sulfate dissolves in acid either because of the increased polarity of the solution, or the sulfate is protonating into bisulfate, probably a combination of the two. Hope that helps.

duck in gamestop