Basic vs Acidic Salt

[Savonnah Wong 1A]

Hi! How do you know when something is a basic or acidic salt?

[Suzan Manoian 1H]

Salts are made up of cations and anions.

If the salt is composed of a conjugate base of a strong acid and a conjugate acid of a weak base, then the salt is acidic. An example of a conjugate acid of a weak base is NH4+. Thus, NH4Cl would be classified as a acidic salt.

If the salt is composed of a conjugate base of a weak acid and a conjugate acid of a strong base, then the salt is basic. For example, F- is a conjugate base of a weak acids.

While you did not ask about neutral salts, here is my explanation for that: If the salt is composed of a conjugate that is from both a strong acid and a strong base, then it is neutral. Usually, Group 1 and 2 metal cations and conjugate bases of strong acids make up neutral salts.