How is the solubility product (Ksp) defined for a sparingly soluble salt?

The solubility product constant (Ksp) is a specific equilibrium constant that applies to solubility equilibria of sparingly soluble salts in water. It is defined mathematically as the product of the molar concentrations of the dissolved ions in a saturated solution, with each concentration raised to the power of its coefficient in the balanced chemical equation for the dissolution of the salt.

For instance, if a salt AB dissolves in water to form its ions A⁺ and B⁻ in the stoichiometric ratio described by the equation:

[ AB (s) \rightleftharpoons A^+ (aq) + B^- (aq) ]

The Ksp expression is:

[ Ksp = [A^+][B^-] ]

where the concentrations of the ions A and B are raised to the power of their coefficients from the equilibrium equation, which in this simple case is 1 for both ions. This means that Ksp provides a quantitative measure of the solubility of the salt. The higher the Ksp, the more soluble the salt.

The other options do not accurately describe Ksp. For instance, Ksp is not simply the sum of the concentrations of the ions, does not relate to the