Question

Are the following acids, bases, or neutral? NaNO₂​, HNO₂, NaC₂H₃O₂​. Please also explain why they are acids or bases. i.e. how do i know if they are proton donors or acceptors?

Answer 1

1).NaNO₂ is the salt of strong base NaOH and weak acid HNO₂, on hydrolysis

NaNO₂ + H₂O --> HNO₂ + NaOH

since NaOH is a stronger base compare to weak acid HNO₂. Hence the aqueous solution of NaNO₂ shows basic.

2). HNO₂ is a weak acid (Ka - acid dissociation constant is 5.6×10^–4 ) it gives H⁺ ions in solution as

HNO₂ + H₂O --> H₃O⁺ + NO₂^-

Hence HNO₂ is an acid.

3). NaC₂H₃O₂ is sodium acetate, is a salt formed by strong base NaOH and weak acid acetic acid CH₃COOH, this salt on hydrolysis gives basic hydroxyl ions and the solution is said to be basic.

NaC₃H₃O₂ + H₂O --> CH₃COOH + NaOH

You may find weak acid list with corresponding dissociation constants at

https://sites.google.com/site/chempendix/ionization

Always remember and be familiar with various acids and bases, then you can quickly able to say which salt will be acidic and which will be basic.

Strong base + weak acid ---> salt ---------------> basic

Strong acid + weak base ---> salt ---------------> acidic

a pair of electrons acceptor --------------------> acid (Lewis)

a pair of electrons donor -------------------------> base (Lewis)

Thank You So Much! Please Rate this answer as you wish.