Acidic, Basic and Neutral Salts

A salt may be defined as the product of a neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. The prototype “salt,” of course, is sodium chloride, or table salt. Sodium chloride, which is obtained by neutralization of hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide, is a neutral salt. Neutralization of any strong acid with a strong base always gives a neutral salt. In general, however, salts may be acidic, basic or neutral. An easy way to predict the acid–base properties of a salt is to consider the strengths of the “parent” acid and base that make up the salt. Let’s investigate the pH of salts dissolved in water.