Question

- What is salt and how does the strength of acid and base affect the type of salt produced in their reaction?

- What happens when salt dissolves in water and what reaction occurs between salt ions and water?

- How are salt solutions categorized based on their pH?

- Why do these salts exhibit acidic, basic, or neutral pH properties in water?

- How can the pH property of salt solutions be predicted using the balanced net- ionic equation of hydrolysis reaction?
- What dissociation equilibrium expression is used when the salt is acidic? When the salt is basic? And, when the salt is neutral?

- What does the dissociation constant of salt solutions represent?

- What is a buffer and what is the purpose of using it in acid-base equilibrium reactions?

- How can buffers maintain the pH of aqueous solutions?

Answer 1

Salt is a product which is produced when acid and base reacts along with water.

If acid and base are equally strong then produced salt is neutral. But if any of acid or base is strong then salt will be acidic(salt of weak base and strong acid) or basic (salt of weak acid and strong base) respectively.

For example CH3COONa is basic in nature whereas NH4Cl is acidic in nature and NaCl is neutral.

If a salt dissolved in water(except salt of strong acid and base) undergo hydrolysis reaction which is reverse of neutralisation reaction. Salt ions are hydrated by water molecules.

Salt solutions can be categorised as neutral(7) acidic(<7) or basic(>7) depending on PH.

As these salts after hydrolysis produce acids and base with different strengths so those don't neutralise each other and as a result salt solutions become acidic or basic depending on nature of acid and base.