What are the products of the neutralization reaction between hydrochloric acid and magnesium hydroxide?
1 Answer
The products are magnesium chloride and water.
Hydrochloric acid is a strong acid. It reacts completely with water to form hydronium ions and chloride ions.
HCl + H₂O → H₃O⁺ + Cl⁻
The equation is often simplified by omitting the water
HCl → H⁺ + Cl⁻
Magnesium hydroxide, Mg(OH)₂, is a strong base. It contains hydroxide ions, OH⁻, and magnesium ions, Mg²⁺.
When HCl reacts with water, the hydrogen ions react with the hydroxide ions to form water:
H⁺ + OH⁻ → H₂O
Thus, the reaction between HCl and Mg(OH)₂ is then:
2HCl(aq) + Mg(OH)₂(s) → MgCl₂(aq) + 2H₂O(l)
The products are magnesium chloride and water.
Using ions, the reaction is:
2H⁺(aq) + 2Cl⁻(aq) + Mg(OH)₂(s) → 2H₂O(l) + Mg²⁺(aq) + 2Cl⁻(aq)
We can cancel Cl⁻ from each side of the equation. This gives the net ionic equation
2H⁺(aq) + Mg(OH)₂(s) → 2H₂O(l) + Mg²⁺(aq)
