How is a salt prepared?

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Answer 1 · 2016-09-03T14:38:01

Typically this requires the addition of stoichiometric acid to base, or vice versa.

#"Acid + Base "rarr" Salt + Water"#

For simple strong acid and strong bases:

#HCl(aq) + NaOH(aq) rarr NaCl(aq) + H_2O(aq)#

We write the reaction as shown to give the #1:1# equivalence. Sometimes of course, the acid requires more than the #1# #"equiv"# for neutralization:

#H_2SO_4(aq) + 2NaOH(aq) rarr Na_2SO_4(aq) + 2H_2O(aq)#.

Both given salts are innocent. A salt such as #"sodium acetate"# or #"sodium fluoride"# may cause water hydrolysis:

#F^(-) + H_2O(aq) rightleftharpoons HF(aq) + HO^-#

i.e. the salts of weak acids compete for the proton in the equilibrium reaction.