rules for determining

[Karina Rodriguez 2H]

What rules do I need to keep in mind to tell whether a salt is acidic or basic?

[Margia Adriano 2A]

Hi! What I do is first look at the different atoms in the salt/compound. In order to determine whether it is acidic, basic, or neutral, you have to determine if it contains a conjugate acid or base. For example, NaCN is a basic salt. The CN- anion came from HCN, which is an acid. In other words, CN- is the conjugate base/anion of HCN and that's how you know that it is a basic salt. I hope this helps!

[705383815]

It depends on whether or not the conjugate acid or the conjugate base from the salt is the component of a strong acid or a strong base and whether the resulting conjugate substances are stronger than each other or not. For example, if a salt has a nitrate in it, then it is likely going to cause the solution to become basic since the nitrate ion will attract H+ from the water.

[Nancy Yao]

Strong Acid + Strong Base -> neutral salt

Strong Acid + Weak Base -> acidic salt

Strong Base + Weak Acid -> basic salt

[Isaias Gomez D3A]

A Strong Acid + a Strong Base = a neutral salt

A Strong Acid + a Weak Base = a acidic salt

A Strong Base + a Weak Acid = a basic salt

[Sophia Kalanski 1A]

So when I do this, I first separate the salt into its anion and its cation. From there, I try to see whether or not one of them belong to a strong acid or base and if so, they do not affect the pH of the solution. The one that does belong to the pH can affect it.

[Nick Saeedi 1I]

Look to see if it donates or accepts hydrogen ions.

[305561744]

Are all acids/bases salts? What part of their composition makes them a salt?