Acids and Alkalis

Neutralisation.

An acid plus an alkali makes a salt plus water.

Hydrochloric acid makes chlorides.
Sulfuric acid makes sulfates. Nitric acid makes nitrates.


This is the balanced chemical equation for the reaction of
hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide.

hydrochloric acid  sodium hydroxide  arrow  sodium chloride  +  water.
        HCl(aq)          +           NaOH(aq)      arrow          NaCl(aq)      +  H2O(l)


This is the balanced chemical equation for the reaction of
sulfuric acid and potassium hydroxide.

sulfuric acid potassium hydroxide  arrow  potassium sulfate  +  water.
    H2SO4(aq)    +              2KOH(aq)       arrow        K2SO4(aq)        +  2H2O(l)


When
ammonia is used as the alkali,
ammonium hydroxide is formed in solution.


This is the balanced chemical equation for the reaction of
sulfuric acid and ammonium hydroxide.

sulfuric acid  +  ammonium hydroxide  arrow    ammonium sulfate  +  water.
     H2SO4(aq)    +       2
NH4OH(aq)       arrow      (NH4)2SO4(aq)    +  2H2O(l)

The salt formed here is ammonium sulfate.
Ammonium salts are used as fertilisers.

All of the salts made above are soluble.
Pure samples of the salt can be made by using a titration.


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