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Chemistry · Ch 3 — Ionic Equilibria

Salts of strong acids and strong bases

3.7.3

Salts of strong acids and strong bases

NaCl is a salt of strong acid HCl and a strong base NaOH. When it is dissolved in water, it dissociates completely into its ions.

NaCl(aq)→Na+(aq)+Cl−(aq)\mathrm{NaCl(aq)} \rightarrow \mathrm{Na^{+}(aq)} + \mathrm{Cl^{-}(aq)}

The ions Na+\mathrm{Na^{+}} and Cl−\mathrm{Cl^{-}} have no tendency to react with water. This is because the possible products, NaOH and HCl, of such reactions are strong electrolytes and dissociate completely in aqueous solutions. In other words,

Na+(aq)+Cl−(aq)+H2O→HCl(aq)(strong acid)+NaOH(aq)(strong base)[Possible products]\mathrm{Na^{+}(aq)} + \mathrm{Cl^{-}(aq)} + \mathrm{H_2O} \rightarrow \underset{\text{(strong acid)}}{\mathrm{HCl(aq)}} + \underset{\text{(strong base)}}{\mathrm{NaOH(aq)}} \quad \text{[Possible products]}

HCl(aq)+NaOH(aq)+H2O→H3O+(aq)+Cl−(aq)+Na+(aq)+OH−(aq)\mathrm{HCl(aq)} + \mathrm{NaOH(aq)} + \mathrm{H_2O} \rightarrow \mathrm{H_3O^{+}(aq)} + \mathrm{Cl^{-}(aq)} + \mathrm{Na^{+}(aq)} + \mathrm{OH^{-}(aq)} …

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