Question

Classify these salts as acidic, basic, or neutral. NH4ClO4 NaF LiNO3 KCI K2CO3

Answer 1

Concepts and reason

The concept used to solve this problem is based on the salt's hydrolysis and its behavior in the aqueous solution. The salt gets dissociated in the aqueous medium and forms a bond with the hydrogen ion and the hydroxyl ion present in the water.

Fundamentals

The salt gets dissociated in an anion and a cation. The anion reacts with the hydrogen ion present in the water. At the same time, the cation reacts with the hydroxyl ion present in the solution. The determination of the type of salt is done by studying the salt solution's overall pH (potential of hydrogen).

 

The salt \(\mathrm{NH}_{4} \mathrm{ClO}_{4}\) dissociates as follows.

$$ \mathrm{NH}_{4} \mathrm{ClO}_{4}+\mathrm{H}_{2} \mathrm{O} \longrightarrow \mathrm{NH}_{4} \mathrm{OH}+\mathrm{HClO}_{4} $$

It is an acidic salt.

Explanation

The salts get dissociated in an anion and a cation. In the aqueous medium, the salt \(\mathrm{NH}_{4} \mathrm{ClO}_{4}\) gets dissociated into \(\mathrm{HClO}_{4}\) and \(\mathrm{NH}_{4} \mathrm{OH}\). The \(\mathrm{NH}_{4} \mathrm{ClO}_{4}\) molecule get dissociated in a weak base and the strong. The overall \(\mathrm{pH}\) of the solution is acidic.

 

The salt NaF dissociates as follows.

$$ \mathrm{NaF}+\mathrm{H}_{2} \mathrm{O} \longrightarrow \mathrm{NaOH}+\mathrm{HF} $$

It is a basic salt. The salt \(\mathrm{K}_{2} \mathrm{CO}_{3}\) dissociates as follows.

$$ \mathrm{K}_{2} \mathrm{CO}_{3}+\mathrm{H}_{2} \mathrm{O} \longrightarrow \mathrm{KOH}+\mathrm{H}_{2} \mathrm{CO}_{3} $$

It is a basic salt.

Explanation

In the aqueous medium, the salt NaF gets dissociated into \(\mathrm{NaOH}\) and \(\mathrm{HF}\). The salt \(\mathrm{K}_{2} \mathrm{CO}_{3}\) gets dissociated into \(\mathrm{KOH}\) and \(\mathrm{H}_{2} \mathrm{CO}_{3}\). The salts \(\mathrm{NaF}\) and \(\mathrm{K}_{2} \mathrm{CO}_{3}\) gets dissociated into a weak acid and a strong base. The overall \(\mathrm{pH}\) of the solution represents basic \(\mathrm{pH}\).

 

The salt \(\mathrm{LiNO}_{3}\) dissociates as follows. \(\mathrm{LiNO}_{3}+\mathrm{H}_{2} \mathrm{O} \longrightarrow \mathrm{LiOH}+\mathrm{HNO}_{3}\) It is a neutral salt.

The salt \(\mathrm{KCl}\) dissociates as follows. \(\mathrm{KCl}+\mathrm{H}_{2} \mathrm{O} \longrightarrow \mathrm{KOH}+\mathrm{HCl}\) It is a neutral salt.

$$ \begin{array}{|l|l|l|} \hline \text { Acidic salts } & \text { Basic salts } & \text { Neutral salts } \\ \hline \mathrm{NH}_{4} \mathrm{ClO}_{4} & \mathrm{NaF} & \text { LiNO }_{3} \\ \hline \mathrm{K}_{2} \mathrm{CO}_{3} & \mathrm{KCl} \\ \hline \end{array} $$

In the aqueous medium, the salt \(\mathrm{LiNO}_{3}\) gets dissociated into \(\mathrm{LiOH}\) and \(\mathrm{HNO}_{3}\). The salt \(\mathrm{KCl}\) gets dissociated into \(\mathrm{KOH}\) and \(\mathrm{HCl}\). The salts \(\mathrm{LiNO}_{3}\) and \(\mathrm{KCl}\) are dissociated into strong acid and strong base. The overall \(\mathrm{pH}\) of the solution is neutral.

The stronger molecules dominate the overall \(\mathrm{pH}\) of the solution. The strong base or the strong acids masks the weak molecules' effect (weak acids and weak base). In the presence of the strong bases and the strong acids, the acids' effect and the bases are masked, and the overall pH comes out to be neutral.