# What are some examples of neutralization?

May 14, 2014

A neutralization reaction is very much like a double replacement reaction, however, in a neutralization reaction the reactants are always an acid and a base and the products are always a salt and water.

The basic reaction for a double replacement react takes the following format:

$A B + C D \to C B + A D$

we will look at an example as Sulfuric Acid and Potassium Hydroxide neutralize each other in the following reaction:

${H}_{2} S {O}_{4} + 2 K O H \to {K}_{2} S {O}_{4} + 2 {H}_{2} O$

In a neutralization reaction between an acid and a base the typical outcome is a salt formed by the positive ion from the base and the negative ion from the acid. In this case the positive potassium ion (${K}^{+}$) and the polyatomic sulfate ($S {O}_{4}$) to for m the salt ${K}_{2} S {O}_{4}$.

The positive hydrogen (${H}^{+}$) from the acid and the negative hydroxide ion ($O {H}^{-}$) from the base form the water $H O H$ or ${H}_{2} O$.

Let us look at a second example with Nitric Acid and Calcium Hydroxide.

$2 H N {O}_{3} + C a {\left(O H\right)}_{2} \to C a {\left(N {O}_{3}\right)}_{2} + 2 {H}_{2} O$

In this case the positive calcium ion ($C {a}^{+} 2$) and the polyatomic sulfate ($N {O}_{3}^{-}$) to for m the salt $C a {\left(N {O}_{3}\right)}_{2}$.

The positive hydrogen (${H}^{+}$) from the acid and the negative hydroxide ion ($O {H}^{-}$) from the base form the water $H O H$ or ${H}_{2} O$.