How can salts be formed

Note that ammonia forms ammonium salts when it reacts with acids. For instance, ammonia reacts with hydrochloric acid to make ammonium chloride. Naming salts A salt is any compound formed by the neutralisation of an acid by a base. You can always work out the name of the salt by looking at the reactants: nitric acid always produces salts that end in nitrate and contain the nitrate ion, NO 3- hydrochloric acid always produces salts that end in chloride and contain the chloride ion, Cl - sulfuric acid always produces salts that end in sulfate and contain the sulfate ion, SO 4 2- For example, if potassium oxide reacts with sulfuric acid, the products will be potassium sulfate and water.

The table shows some more examples: Metal Acid Salt Sodium hydroxide reacts with Hydro chloric acid to make Sodium chloride Copper oxide reacts with Hydro chloric acid to make Copper chloride Sodium hydroxide reacts with Sulf uric acid to make Sodium sulfate Zinc oxide reacts with Sulf uric acid to make Zinc sulfate Note that ammonia forms ammonium salts when it reacts with acids.

The insoluble reactant chosen depends upon the particular salt required. For example, copper does not react with dilute acids, so copper salts are made using copper II oxide or copper II carbonate, not copper metal.

On the other hand, sodium is too reactive to be used safely - again the metal is not used to make sodium salts. As the reaction between metals and acids produces flammable hydrogen, chemists usually make salts by reacting a metal oxide or a metal carbonate with an acid. The name of a salt has two parts. The first part comes from the metal, metal oxide or metal carbonate. The second part comes from the acid:.

Acids and Bases. Search for:. Write equations for salts that form basic solutions. Write equations for salts that form acidic solutions. Write equations for salts that form neutral solutions. The reaction is seen below: If all goes well, the biscuits rise, the pancakes are fluffy, and everybody is happy. Summary Salt hydrolysis is defined. Salt hydrolysis reactions resulting in acidic, basic, or neutral solutions are described. Practice Do problems 1, 2, 3, and 5 at ChemWiki.

The reactions are as follows:. Because both ions can hydrolyze, will a solution of ammonium bicarbonate be acidic or basic? We can determine the answer by comparing K a and K b values for each ion. In this case, the value of K b for bicarbonate is greater than the value of K a for ammonium. In summary, when a salt contains two ions that hydrolyze, compare their K a and K b values:. Hydrolysis of salts : This video examines the hydrolysis of an acid salt, a basic salt, and a salt in which both ions hydrolyze.

Privacy Policy. Skip to main content. Acids and Bases. Search for:. Learning Objectives Distinguish basic salts from non-basic salts. Key Takeaways Key Points In acid — base chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base.

Basic salts contain the conjugate base of a weak acid, so when they dissolve in water, they react with water to yield a solution with pH greater than 7. Key Terms basic salt : the product of the neutralization of a strong base and a weak acid; its anion is the conjugate base of the weak acid.