WEEK 4 & 5: MAKING SALTS

PREPARATION OF SOME SALTS BY THE REACTIONS OF METALS OR METAL

CARBONATES WITH ACID
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
i. Explain the term ‘salt’ as a compound formed from neutralization reactions
ii. Explain the steps in naming any given salts
iii. Describe THREE methods of making salts
iv. Explain TWO methods of recovering salts from their solutions.

Naming salts
A salt is any compound formed by the neutralization of an acid by a base.
The name of a salt has two parts. The first part comes from the metal, metal oxide
or metal carbonate. The second part comes from the acid.
You can always work out the name of the salt by looking at the reactants:
 nitric acid always produces salts that end in nitrate and contain
the nitrate ion, NO3–
 hydrochloric acid always produces salts that end in chloride and contain
the chloride ion, Cl–
 sulfuric acid always produces salts that end in sulfate and contain
the sulfate ion, SO42–
For example, if potassium oxide reacts with sulfuric acid, the products will be
potassium sulfate and water.

MAKING SALTS
Acids react with metals, bases and carbonates to produce salts. Neutralization is
the reaction between an acid and a base.

MAKING A SALT FROM REACTIVE METALS AND ACIDS

Acids will react with reactive metals, such as magnesium and zinc, to make a salt
and hydrogen.
acid + metal → salt + hydrogen
hydrochloric acid + zinc → zinc chloride + hydrogen
2HCl + Zn → ZnCl2 + H2
The hydrogen causes bubbling during the reaction, and can be detected using a
burning splint which produces a squeaky pop sound.
In general, the more reactive the metal, the faster the reaction. This is indicated
by more bubbles being given off per second from the metals with higher
reactivity.
Also note that the reaction of metals with acids is exothermic (i.e. heat energy is
given out).
MAKING A SALT FROM ACIDS AND METAL CARBONATES
When acids react with carbonates, such as calcium carbonate (found in chalk,
limestone and marble), a salt, water and carbon dioxide are made.
acid + metal carbonate → salt + water + carbon dioxide
sulfuric acid + iron (II) carbonate → iron (II) sulfate + water + carbon dioxide
H2SO4 + FeCO3 → FeSO4 + H2O + CO2
The carbon dioxide causes bubbling during the reaction, which is observed as
fizzing. It can be detected by passing the gas through limewater, which will go
cloudy. The sign that the reaction has stopped is that the reaction stops fizzling.
You filter the mixture to remove the excess metal carbonate, and then evaporate
the water in the filtrate to leave the salt behind.
The reaction of metal carbonates with acids is exothermic (i.e. heat energy is
given out).

Recovering the salt from its solution

To obtain the pure salt from the solution, we need to remove some of the water.
The methods used to recover a salt from its solution are
1. Evaporation for salts that can withstand strong heating i.e. will not decompose
when heated strongly e.g. chlorides.
Warm the salt solution by using a Bunsen burner to evaporate some of the
water. You get larger crystals if you evaporate the water slowly.
2. Crystallization for salts that cannot withstand strong heating e.g. sulphates.