Asked by james

when dissolved in an aqeous solution, which of the following salts will yield an acidic solution? NH4Cl, NaClO4, Na2S, MgBr2, Ba(CH3CO2)2

Answers

Answered by DrBob222
You look at the hydrolysis of each salt. For example, NH4Cl.
The Cl^- is a weak base and will not pull H^+ away from water; therefore, Cl^- is not hydrolyzed. The NH4^+ will donate a H^+ to water forming.
NH4^+ H2O ==> NH3 + H3O^+, thus, this is an acidic solution.
All of the texts and most teachers use this approach and if you are familiar with the acidity and/or basicity of catins and anions, this works quite well. However, WAY BACK when I was a student, we didn't use the Bronsted-Lowry theory that much so we had another way to do it. Your teacher won't like this, probably, but it works.
I write the molecular equation, for example, for NH4Cl.
NH4Cl + HOH ==> NH4OH + H^+
NH4OH (which has now been shown not to exist but it is NH3 + H2O) is a weak base, HCl is a strong acid, strong wins out over weak, so the salt is acidic in aqueous solution.
Another one.
NaClO4 + HOH ==> NaOH + HClO4.
NaOH is a strong base, HClO4 is a strong acid, the solution will be neutral.
Na2S + HOH ==> NaOH + H2S (not balanced), NaOH is a strong base, H2S is a weak acid, strong base wins out and the salt will be basic.
I hope this helps.
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