SALTS

Compounds formed from reaction

of acids and bases
Lesson Outcomes
• Be able to define a salt (both normal and
acid)
• Give examples of formulae of salts
(normal and acid)
• List the solubilities of salts
• State the different methods of preparing a
salt and which method is suitable for which
type of salt
• Be able to define an oxide and state the
different types of oxides with examples
 Definitions
• A salt is a compound containing either a metal ion OR
an ammonium ion and a negative ion from an acid e.g.
calcium chloride CaCl2, ammonium nitrate NH4NO3

• A normal salt is one in which ALL of the hydrogen ions

from an acid are replaced by metal or ammonium ions
e.g NaCl, MgSO4, Ca3(PO4)2. Normal salts give neutral
solutions when dissolved in water

• An acid salt is one in which SOME of the hydrogen

ions from an acid are replaced by metal or ammonium
ions e.g. sodium hydrogen sulphate NaHSO4,
disodium hydrogen phosphate Na2HPO4. Acid salts
give acidic solutions when dissolved in water
 Solubilities of salts
1. All nitrates are soluble

2. All sulphates are soluble except lead sulphate, barium

sulphate and calcium sulphate

3. All chlorides are soluble except lead (II) chloride, silver

chloride and mercury (II) chloride

4. All carbonates are insoluble except sodium carbonate,

potassium carbonate and ammonium carbonate

5. All hydroxides are insoluble except sodium hydroxide,

potassium hydroxide, ammonium hydroxide and calcium
hydroxide (these are not salts but need to be known as well)
 Preparation of salts
• Salt preparation depends on the solubility of the salt.

• Soluble salts can be prepared by either:-

• a) reaction of metal and acid (not commonly used)
• b) reaction of base and acid (commonly used)
• c) reaction of carbonate and acid (not as common as b) but
more common than a)
• d) reaction of alkali and acid (only if the base is an alkali i.e.
soluble in water e.g. sodium hydroxide or potassium
hydroxide)

• If the salt must be prepared in the ABSENCE of water (that

is anhydrous), then direct combination or synthesis is used.
• If the salt is insoluble in water, it must be prepared by ionic
precipitation (also called double decomposition)
 Soluble salt preparation
• In almost all cases, soluble salts are
prepared by the action of acid & base
OR acid & carbonate.

• The method called titration is used

when the salt being produced is
formed from reaction of
acid and alkali
 Preparation of copper(II)
sulphate crystals exercise 1 of 3
Watch the video and answer
the following questions.

a) What are the names of the

TWO substances were used
to make the copper(II)
sulphate crystals?

b) Give a reason why hot

water was used
 Preparation of copper(II)
sulphate crystals exercise 2 of 3
Watch the video and answer
the following questions.

c) Write the chemical equation

for the reaction of the two
substances.

d) What is the colour of the

copper(II) sulphate solution?
 Preparation of copper(II)
sulphate crystals exercise 3 of 3
Watch the video and answer the
following questions.

e) Why was excess solid used in

the preparation of the salt?

f) How is the excess solid removed?

g) How is the formation of the

crystals encouraged?
 Insoluble salt preparation
• If the salt is required in anhydrous form, direct
combination of the elements may be necessary
like in the production of iron(II) sulphide
• If the insoluble salt can be in the presence of
water, then ionic precipitation or double
decomposition is used like in the production of
lead(II) iodide
 Oxides
• Definition: An oxide is a compound containing
oxygen and one other element.
• There are 4 types of oxides:- acidic, basic, neutral
and amphoteric
• Acidic oxides (non-metal oxides) form acids when
dissolved in water e.g. CO2, SO2
• Basic oxides (metal oxides) e.g. CaO act as bases
• Neutral oxides (carbon monoxide CO and nitrogen
monoxide NO have no reaction with either acids or
bases)
• Amphoteric oxides react with BOTH acids and
bases e.g. aluminium oxide Al2O3, zinc oxide ZnO
and lead(II) oxide PbO
Practice Question 1 of 2
Practice Questions 2 of 2
END OF THE TOPIC SALTS