How do chloride ions precipitate silver ions from silver nitrate solution?

In the context of chemical precipitation, chloride ions remove silver ions from a silver nitrate solution by forming a new, insoluble compound.

When a source of chloride ions—such as a solution of sodium chloride—is added to a solution containing dissolved silver ions, the two ions combine to form silver chloride. Because silver chloride is not soluble in water, it separates from the solution as a solid precipitate. This process is a fundamental technique in analytical chemistry used to isolate metal ions or determine the concentration of specific substances in a mixture.12