Acidic or Basic????

BluePhoenix · Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2005 4:59 pm Post subject: Acidic or Basic????

1. Would you expect each solute to produce an acidic, basic, or neutral aqueous solution?

a. sodium oxalate
b. ammonium chloride
c. iron (III) chloride
d. sodium hydroxide
e. potassium acetate
f. lithium carbonate
g. ammonia
h. benzoic acid

Awnser:
B
A
A
B
B
B
B
A

Please Help me I have no idea on how to do this... Sad

thanks in advanced..

RobJim · Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2005 10:46 pm Post subject:

I'm not sure what you're asking for. Do you want your answers checked? Or explained?

BluePhoenix · Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2005 12:14 am Post subject:

charco · Regular Joined: 07 Mar 2005 Posts: 96

The easiest way to work it out is as follows

salt from strong acid + weak base is acidic by hydrolysis (solution in water)

salt from weak acid + strong base is basic by hydrolysis (solution in water)

For a full explanation see...

IB chemistry website notes and interactive resources for teachers and students

cheers

RobJim · Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2005 7:18 am Post subject:

Well, I think the basic idea is that either water molecules will deprotonate the acidic part of the salt to give an acidic solution, or the basic part of the salt will deprotonate water to give a basic solution, or neither. You need to determine the pKa's of: H2O, H3O(+), the cation of the salt, and the protonated anion of the salt. Comparisons of these values should tell you whether the solution will be acidic, basic, or neutral.

Charm_Chemistry · Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2005 6:22 pm Post subject:

GCT · Member Joined: 21 May 2005 Posts: 12 Location: Georgia