Classification

[Roxan Sheikh 3L]

What are some basic rules to remember when classifying acidic and basic salts?

[Samuel Mushinski 2G]

Typically, salts with the ions found in strong acids (Cl-, Br-, I-, etc...) and strong bases (Li+, Na+, K+, etc...) are neutral and do not effect pH.

Ions of transition metal ions with strong charges as discussed in class are acidic (Fe3+, Co2+, etc...).

For basic ions, that would be ions of weak acids (F-, NO2-, CN-) or ions like (H-, and OH-) would also cause alkalinity.

I hope this helped! There are videos on youtube that helped me a lot with this memorization!

[Triston Dinh 1D]

To classify salts as acidic or basic, you need to look at both the cation and the anion and the conjugate acid-base seesaw rule. A conjugate acid/base from a strong acid/base will be nonreactive and does not affect the acidity/basicity/pH of the salt. On the other hand, a conjugate acid/base from a weak acid/base will be reactive and will form H+ or OH-, thus affecting the pH.


Conjugate Base from Strong Acid (nonreactive) + Conjugate Acid from Strong Base (nonreactive) = Neutral, pH = 7
Conjugate Base from Weak Acid (reactive, will form OH-) + Conjugate Acid from Strong Base (nonreactive) = Basic, pH > 7
Conjugate Base from Strong Acid (nonreactive) + Conjugate Acid from Weak Base (reactive, will form H+) = Acidic, pH < 7