Why is the point in the titration when neutralization occurs called the equivalence point?

1 Answer
May 23, 2017

It's called the equivalence point because this is the point in a titration where the relative amounts of each substance in the chemical reaction become exactly defined by the coefficients in the balanced chemical equation. That is to say, if the titration is at its equivalence point, the ratios of each substance will be exactly equivalent to the ratios of the substances' coefficients in the chemical equation.

For example, in the titration reaction between #"NaOH"# and #"H"_2"SO"_4#:

#2"NaOH (aq)" + "H"_2"SO"_4 "(aq)" rarr "Na"_2"SO"_4 "(aq)" + "H"_2"O(l)"#

The reaction has reached its equivalence point when the ratio of #"H"_2"SO"_4# to #"NaOH"# in solution is exactly #1:2#.