Conservation of Charge The stoichiometry between two reactants in a precipitation reaction is governed by a conservation of charge, requiring that the total cation charge and the total anion charge in the precipitate be equal. The reaction units in a precipitation reaction, therefore, are the absolute values of the charges on the cation and anion that make up the precipitate. Applying equation 2.3 to a precipitate of Ca3(PO4)2 formed from the reaction of Ca2+ and PO43–, we write 2 ´moles