Question

What is the balanced net ionic equation for sodium hydroxide and acetylsalicylic acid?

Answer 1

`"C"_ 6"H"_ 4 "OCOCH"_ 3"COOH" _ ((aq)) + "OH"_ ((aq))^(-)-> "C"_ 6"H"_ 4 "OCOCH"_ 3"COO" _ ((aq))^(-) + "H"_ 2"O"_ ((l))`

Explanation:

Sodium hydroxide and acetylsalicylic acid neutralize each other in a `1:1` mole ratio to produce aqueous sodium acetylsalicylate and water.

The molecular equation looks like this

`"C"_ 6"H"_ 4 "OCOCH"_ 3"COOH" _ ((aq)) + "NaOH"_ ((aq)) -> "C"_ 6"H"_ 4 "OCOCH"_ 3"COONa"_ ((aq)) + "H"_ 2"O"_ ((l))`

The complete ionic equation looks like this

`"C"_ 6"H"_ 4 "OCOCH"_ 3"COOH" _ ((aq)) + "Na"_ ((aq))^(+) + "OH"_ ((aq))^(-) -> "C"_ 6"H"_ 4 "OCOCH"_ 3"COO" _ ((aq))^(-) + "Na"_ ((aq))^(+) + "H"_ 2"O"_ ((l))`

The sodium cations are spectator ions here, i.e. they are present on both sides of the chemical equation, so you can eliminate them

`"C"_ 6"H"_ 4 "OCOCH"_ 3"COOH" _ ((aq)) + color(red)(cancel(color(black)("Na"_ ((aq))^(+)))) + "OH"_ ((aq))^(-)-> "C"_ 6"H"_ 4 "OCOCH"_ 3"COO" _ ((aq))^(-) + color(red)(cancel(color(black)("Na"_ ((aq))^(+)))) + "H"_ 2"O"_ ((l))`

and write the net ionic equation that describes this reaction.

`"C"_ 6"H"_ 4 "OCOCH"_ 3"COOH" _ ((aq)) + "OH"_ ((aq))^(-)-> "C"_ 6"H"_ 4 "OCOCH"_ 3"COO" _ ((aq))^(-) + "H"_ 2"O"_ ((l))`