The chemical reaction in which the ions of two compounds exchange places in aqueous solution to form new compounds is called a metathesis reaction or double displacement reaction.

In a metathesis reaction, the positive ions (cations) of one compound combine with the negative ions (anions) of another compound, and vice versa, resulting in the formation of two new compounds.

The general form of a metathesis reaction can be represented as:

AX + BY → AY + BX

where A and B represent the cations, and X and Y represent the anions.

For example, when sodium chloride (NaCl) and silver nitrate (AgNO3) are mixed in aqueous solution, the sodium ions (Na+) from sodium chloride exchange places with the silver ions (Ag+) from silver nitrate, and the chloride ions (Cl-) from sodium chloride exchange places with the nitrate ions (NO3-) from silver nitrate. This results in the formation of two new compounds: sodium nitrate (NaNO3) and silver chloride (AgCl).

NaCl (aq) + AgNO3 (aq) → NaNO3 (aq) + AgCl (s)