I am having trouble classify acids and bases
for example sapling problem #7
Classify these salts as acidic, basic, or neutral
K2SO3, NH4Br, Na2S, KCl,LiBr
classifying acids and bases
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Re: classifying acids and bases
Hello!
To answer this question, we must know what compounds are considered strong acids and bases because they will completely dissociate
Here is a website with a list of them: https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/General_Chemistry/Book%3A_ChemPRIME_(Moore_et_al.)/11%3A_Reactions_in_Aqueous_Solutions/11.09%3A_Strong_Acids_and_Bases
From knowing what are strong acids and bases, we can instantly answer that KCl and LiBr are neutral because they each contain a cation of a strong base and an anion of a strong acid.
Although K2SO3 and Na2S contain cations of a strong base, they contain anions of a weak acid. This means that some of the anions will pull H+ ions from water, creating leftover OH- ions. This makes it basic.
Although NH4CLO4 contains an anion of a strong acid, it contains cations of a weak base. This means that some of the cations will pull OH- from water, creating leftover H+ ions. This makes it acidic.
I hope this helps!
To answer this question, we must know what compounds are considered strong acids and bases because they will completely dissociate
Here is a website with a list of them: https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/General_Chemistry/Book%3A_ChemPRIME_(Moore_et_al.)/11%3A_Reactions_in_Aqueous_Solutions/11.09%3A_Strong_Acids_and_Bases
From knowing what are strong acids and bases, we can instantly answer that KCl and LiBr are neutral because they each contain a cation of a strong base and an anion of a strong acid.
Although K2SO3 and Na2S contain cations of a strong base, they contain anions of a weak acid. This means that some of the anions will pull H+ ions from water, creating leftover OH- ions. This makes it basic.
Although NH4CLO4 contains an anion of a strong acid, it contains cations of a weak base. This means that some of the cations will pull OH- from water, creating leftover H+ ions. This makes it acidic.
I hope this helps!
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Re: classifying acids and bases
When determining whether or not a salt is acidic, basic, or neutral, we can consider each of the individual components involved in the salt and whether or not they are involved in creating strong/weak acids or bases. For example, KCl is neutral because K+ is a cation and Cl- is an anion, but they both form a strong acid or base, so they cancel each other's effects out. However, in K2SO4, SO3 is an anion that forms a weak base, so the overall salt is more basic.
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