Question

Ms. Salis explains to her class that sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl) atoms bond to make table salt (NaCl). What is table salt considered?

Answer 1

Table salt is considered to be a `"salt"`, and it is also considered to be indispensable to fish and chips.

Explanation:

In chemistry a salt is considered to be the neutralization product of an acid and base. Typically an aqueous solvent is specified, i.e.:

`"Acid + base "rarr" Salt and water"`

Clearly for sodium chloride we can write:

`HCl(aq) + NaOH(aq) rarr NaCl(aq) + H_2O(l)`.

We can write the same sorts of reactions for other acids and for other bases:

`HNO_3(aq) + NaOH(aq) rarr NaNO_3(aq) + H_2O(l)`

`H_2SO_4(aq) + 2KOH(aq) rarr K_2SO_4(aq) + 2H_2O(l)`

Here, the salts are sodium nitrate, and potassium sulfate respectively. Capisce?