Question

An acid is added to NaOH in a neutralization reaction that produces water and NaCl as products. What is the acid?

Answer 1

`HCl` Hydrochloric acid

Explanation:

`HCl + NaOH = H_2O + NaCl`

Sodium Chloride `NaCl` needs a chlorine atoms as well as the sodium atom from the sodium hydroxide. `NaOH`

The Hydroxide ion `OH^-1` needs a second Hydrogen atom to become water `H_2O`

The missing atomic ions are Hydrogen `H^+1` and Chorine `Cl^-1`

So the acid must `HCl` Hydrochloric acid