How do I find Acid and Base parents for salt?

For example, how do I find an acid parent and a base parent for #Cu^(2+)SO_4^(2-)#?

1 Answer
Apr 27, 2018

Well, the acid part comes from anions...

Explanation:

..., while the basic part becomes from the cations. Remember that acids tend to dissociate into #H^+# ions in aqueous solutions according to the Arrhenius theory, and so they would like a partner of opposite charge, which is a negative charge, and so sulfate #(SO_4^(2-))# must therefore come from the acid.

Here, the acid is most likely sulfuric acid #(H_2SO_4)#.

Meanwhile, bases dissociate into #OH^-# ions in solutions, so they would pair up with cations to form basic solutions. In this case, copper(II) comes from the base, and I'm guessing it is insoluble copper(II) hydroxide #(Cu(OH)_2)#.