Neutral Salts

[abdhi jadeja [2A]]

How would we go about calculating the pH of neutral salts that have a charged cation and anion?

[Madison Yang 1L]

For salts, treat it like the reaction of the non-neutral cation/anion. For instance, if NH4Cl, treat the reaction as just NH4 + H2O --> NH3 + H. If you are asking about what to do when there is both a charged cation and a charged anion, the textbook said in that case you would need to consider reactions of both the cation and the anion. However, we never had examples of this in homework or textbook problems, so I don't think it is something we know how to do yet.

[Maria George 3K]

I believe for neutral salts the pH would just be neutral, right? Since neutral salts are formed after the reaction of a strong acid and strong base, and conjugate acids of strong acids and bases do not contribute to pH, I think the pH would remain neutral unless something else is introduced into the solution or there is an excess of acid or base.