Classify the following salts as either acidic basic or neutral? NaBr , Na2CO3 , CaOHCL , BaSO4 , NH4CL , CaCO3 , and KHSO4:

1 Answer
Feb 18, 2018

Classifying salts undergoes some simple guidelines:

  • If the salt's anion is the conjugate base of a strong acid, then its solution will be neutral.
  • If the salt's anion is the conjugate base of a weak acid, then its solution will be basic.
  • If the salt's cation is the conjugate acid of a strong base, then its solution will be neutral.
  • If the salt's cation is the conjugate acid of a weak base, then its solution will be acidic.

Very easy to remember if you understand the behavior of acids and bases (which only comes through lots of practice).

Considering the anions (since I don't see any cations),

#Br^-# is the conjugate base of #HBr#: neutral

#CO_3^(2-)# is the conjugate base of #HCO_3^(-)#, a weak base (#K_a = 4.3*10^-7#): basic

#HClO^(2-)# will probably further dissolve into #Cl^-# and #OH^-#, which are the conjugate bases of #HCl# and water: basic

With those patterns I challenge you to convince yourself you can do the rest. :)