SALTS

A salt is a substance formed when all or part of the hydrogen ion (H +) in an acid are replaced by a metal or
ammonium ion (NH4+).
Salts are ionic compounds that are made up of two parts:

 The metal part or cation, which comes from the base, metal or carbonate
 The non-metal part or anion, which comes from the acid
For example, sodium hydroxide reacts with dilute hydrochloric acid to form the salt sodium chloride, and water.
The acid gives the non-metal part
NaOH (aq) + HCl (aq) NaCl (aq) + H 2O (l)
The base gives the metal part
TYPES OF SALTS
1. Normal salts
Normal salts are formed when all the hydrogen ions (H+) in the acid are replaced completely.
e.g. Mg (s) + H2SO4 (aq) MgSO4 (aq) + H2O(l)
NaOH (aq) + H2SO4 (aq) Na2SO4 (aq) + H2O (l)

2. Acidic salts
Acidic salts are formed when part (not all) of the hydrogen ions (H +) in an acid are replaced (partial
replacement). Sulphuric acid H2SO4, carbonic acid H2CO3 and phosphoric acid (H3PO4) have more than
one replaceable hydrogen ions so they can form acidic salts.
e.g. NaOH (aq) + H2SO4 (aq) NaHSO4 (aq) + H2O (l)
sodium hydrogen sulphate
Ca (s) + 2H2CO3 (aq) Ca(HCO3)2 (s) + H2 (g)
The table below shows some salts, the acids and bases they are formed from and their uses. Complete the table.

Acid Base Salt Formula of salt Use

Hydrochloric acid Ammonia solution Ammonium chloride NH4Cl Used in fertilizers,
to make batteries

Sulphuric acid Copper (ii) oxide Copper (ii) sulphate CuSO4 Used in fungicides

Hydrochloric acid Sodium hydroxide Sodium chloride NaCl To preserve fish,

meat and
vegetables
Sulphuric acid Magnesium oxide MgSO4
Nitric acid Ammonium nitrate

Carbonic acid Sodium hydroxide

 Calcium hydroxide Calcium carbonate

PREPARATION OF SALTS
When preparing a salt there are two factors to consider
1. Is the salt soluble in water?
2. Are the starting materials soluble in water?
The table below shows the solubility of salts.

Sulphates

There are 3 methods of preparing salts:

1. Reaction between an acid and an excess solid (i.e. metal/insoluble base/ carbonate)
2. Titration method
3. Precipitation method
The method used to prepare a salt is summarised in the flow chart below
1. Preparation of Soluble salts
Soluble salts can be prepared using 2 methods:
Method A – Reacting an acid with excess metal/ insoluble base/ insoluble carbonate
Method B – Titration method
METHOD A – Reacting an acid with excess metal/ insoluble base/ insoluble carbonate
PROCEDURE
- Pour the dilute acid into the beaker
- Add the solid (metal/ base/ carbonate), a little at a time, stirring constantly until no more solid can
dissolve (in excess). This is so that all the acid is used up. In some cases the acid needs to be warmed
up first
- Remove the excess metal by filtering and collecting the filtrate in a conical flask
- Gently heat the filtrate in an evaporating dish to obtain a saturated solution. Check to see if the
solution is saturated by dipping a cold glass rod into the hot solution then taking it out to cool. If
crystals form on the end of the rod, then the solution is saturated.
- Leave the saturated solution to cool and crystallize. The cooling should be slow because if done too
quickly the crystals will be small and badly shaped
- Filter off the crystals. Wash them with small amount of cold distilled water then carefully dry the
crystals between filter papers.

i) Acid + metal
The reaction between an acid and a metal can be represented as:
Acid + metal salt + hydrogen

Salts of metals that react steadily with dilute acids (such as magnesium, aluminium, zinc and iron) can
be made using this method. However, sodium, potassium and calcium react violently with acids and
cannot be used. On the other hand, reaction of a dilute acid with lead is too slow while copper, silver
and gold do not react at all. Therefore salts of the metals cannot be prepared using this method.

Example
Zinc + sulphuric acid zinc sulphate + hydrogen gas
Zn (s) + H2SO4 (aq) ZnSO4 (aq) + H2 (g)
Hydrogen gas is given off so there will be production of gas bubbles or effervescence.
 Zinc sulphate
crystals

Hot
sulphuric
acid
solution

Zinc
sulphate
solution
from
step 2 Crystals of Zinc
Zinc
sulphate sulphate
solution

ii) Acid + insoluble carbonate

The reaction equation for an acid and carbonate reaction is:
Acid + carbonate salt + water + carbon dioxide
Example
Calcium carbonate + hydrochloric acid calcium chloride + water + carbon dioxide
CaCO3 (s) + 2HCl (aq) CaCl 2 (aq) + H2O (l) + CO2 (g)
Carbon dioxide gas is given off so there will be bubbles or effervescence
iii) Acid + insoluble base
An acid reacts with an insoluble base to give a salt and water.
Acid + base salt + water
This is a neutralisation reaction.
No bubbles of gas produced. Warming the acid is necessary to speed up the rate of reaction.
Example
Copper (ii) oxide + sulphuric acid Copper (ii) sulphate + water
CuO (s) + H2SO4 (aq) CuSO4 (aq) + H2O (l)
METHOD B – Titration method
-Reacting an acid with a soluble base (alkali) or soluble carbonate
In the previous method, you knew that the acid was all used up because the metal/ base/ carbonate
were added in excess then removed by filtering. However if the alkali or carbonate are soluble it is
difficult to know when the acid is completely neutralised.
To overcome this problem an indicator may be used to determine the neutralisation point and find out
how much alkali/ carbonate is needed to neutralise the acid.
This process is called titration. It is used to prepare salts of sodium, potassium and ammonium.
 PROCEDURE
1.Fill up the burette with the dilute acid and note the initial burette reading
2.Use a pipette to measure the alkali into the conical flask and add a few drops of indicator e.g. methyl orange
which turns yellow in alkali
3.Add the acid very slowly from the burette to the conical flask until the indicator changes colour. This is the
neutralisation point.
4.Note and record the final volume of acid in the burette and calculate the volume of acid added.
Volume of acid added = final volume of acid – initial volume of acid
5.Discard the contents of the flask, rinse with water and repeat the experiment by adding the same volume of
acid into the same volume of alkali without the indicator.
6.Heat the salt solution gently to evaporate the water and saturate the solution
7.Leave the saturated solution to cool slowly so that crystals may form
8.Filter to remove crystals. Wash crystals with small amounts of cold distilled water to remove impurities, then
dry by patting them between filter papers.
NOTE
Alternatively after step 4, add/ sprinkle activated charcoal powder to the mixture in the conical flask to remove
the indicator/ colour of the indicator. Then filter to remove the charcoal then proceed to step 6-8 to obtain salt
crystals.
The general equation for the reaction of an acid with an alkali is:
Acid + alkali salt + water
Example
Sodium hydroxide + hydrochloric acid sodium chloride + water
NaOH (aq) + HCl (aq) NaCl (aq) + H 2O (l)
(OR METHYL ORANGE) INDICATOR
The methods discussed above are useful for preparing soluble salts. However, when the salt to be prepared is
insoluble in water, a different method is used.

1. Insoluble salts
iv) Precipitation method
Precipitation is the sudden formation of a solid either when two solutions are mixed or a gas is bubbled
into a solution. The general equation for a precipitation reaction is
AB + CD AD + CB
Insoluble salt
(precipitate)
Two aqueous solutions AB and CD react together to form an insoluble salt AD (precipitate) and a soluble
salt CB. The insoluble salt is filtered off, washed with distilled water and allowed to dry.
Example
Silver nitrate + potassium chloride silver chloride + potassium nitrate
AgNO3 (aq) + KCl (aq) AgCl (s) + KNO 3 (aq)
 IDENTIFICATION OF IONS

Sometimes we want to analyse a salt and find out what is in it. There are simple chemical tests which allow us
to identify the cation and the anion in a salt.

Testing for cations

 A cation is a positively charged ion

 Cations are metal ions except the ammonium cation (NH4+)
 They can be identified by using sodium hydroxide solution and aqueous ammonia solution
 With the exception of ammonium ions and group I ions (sodium and potassium) the other cations react with
the hydroxide ions in aqueous sodium hydroxide and aqueous ammonia to form metal hydroxides which
appear as precipitates
 The metal cation can then be identified by
-the colour of the precipitate, and
-the solubility of the precipitate in excess solution
The ammonium cation does not form any precipitate with sodium hydroxide. Ammonia gas is gas is liberated
instead. The gas can be identified by its pungent smell and it turns a damp red litmus paper blue.
The transition metal hydroxides produced tend to be uniquely coloured and so they allow easy identification of
the particular metal ion present. E.g., copper (ii) is blue, iron (ii) is green and iron (iii) is reddish brown.
It is always advisable to start the tests with aqueous sodium hydroxide before doing the aqueous ammonia test
if need be.
Below is a summary of observations made when reacting cations with dilute alkalis.

Cation Effect of aqueous sodium hydroxide NaOH Effect of aqueous ammonia NH3(aq)
Aluminium Al3+ White precipitate of aluminium hydroxide White precipitate of aluminium hydroxide
formed. The precipitate dissolves in excess formed. The precipitate is insoluble in excess
NaOH ammonia solution
Calcium Ca2+ White precipitate of calcium hydroxide No precipitate
formed. The precipitate is insoluble in
excess NaOH
Zinc Zn2+ White precipitate of zinc hydroxide formed. White precipitate of zinc hydroxide formed.
The precipitate dissolves in excess NaOH The precipitate is soluble in excess ammonia
solution
Ammonium NH4+ Ammonia gas is produced on warming. The No reaction
gas turns damp litmus paper blue
Copper (ii) Cu2+ Light blue precipitate of copper (ii) Light blue precipitate of copper (ii)
hydroxide formed. The precipitate is hydroxide formed. The precipitate is soluble
insoluble in excess NaOH in excess ammonia solution giving a dark
blue solution
Iron (ii) Fe2+ Dirty green precipitate of iron (ii) hydroxide Dirty green precipitate of iron (ii) hydroxide
formed. The precipitate is insoluble in formed. The precipitate is insoluble in excess
excess NaOH ammonia solution
 Iron (iii) Fe3+ Reddish-brown precipitate of iron (iii) Reddish-brown precipitate of iron (iii)
hydroxide formed. The precipitate is hydroxide formed. The precipitate is
insoluble in excess NaOH insoluble in excess ammonia solution

Example
2NaOH (aq) + CuSO4 (aq) Cu(OH)2 (s) + Na2SO4 (aq)
This equation can also be represented as an ionic equation
2OH- (aq) + Cu2+ (aq) Cu(OH)2 (s)

Balanced ionic equation

Test for anions

 Anions are negative ions

 There is no particular pattern for testing for anions
 Each anion has its own specific test, using specific reagents
 For carbonates there is no need to make a solution to carry out the test
 For other anions you may make a solution of the salt using distilled water only. Dilute nitric acid cannot be
used as it may introduce nitrate ions into the solution

Anion Test Observation Balanced Ionic Equation

Carbonate Add dilute hydrochloric acidEffervescence is observed CO32– (s) + 2H+ (aq) → H2O
CO32- then bubble gas inGas produced produces a (l) + CO2 (g)
limewater white precipitate of calcium Then
carbonate in limewater/ Ca(OH)2 (aq) + CO2 (aq)→
limewater turns milky CaCO3 (s) + H2O (l)
Chloride Cl- Add dilute nitric acid then A white precipitate of silver Pb2+(aq) + 2Cl -(aq) → PbCl2(s)
add silver nitrate solution chloride is formed
Sulphate SO42- Add dilute nitric acid then A white precipitate of barium Ba2+(aq)+ SO42(aq) → BaSO4 (s)
add barium nitrate solution sulphate is obtained
 Nitrate NO3- Add dilute sodium hydroxide Ammonia gas is given off NH4+(aq) + OH-(aq) ⇌ NH3(g) +
then add a little aluminium The gas turns damp red H2O(l)
powder/ aluminium foil litmus paper blue Then
then warm NO3- (aq) + 8[H] →
NH4+ (aq) + H2O (l) + 2OH- (aq)
Iodide I- Add nitric acid then lead (ii) A deep yellow precipitate of Pb2+(aq) + 2I-(aq) → PbI2(s)
nitrate solution or silver lead (ii) iodide is formed
nitrate solution

Test for gases

GAS TEST RESULT

Ammonia gas NH3 Hold a damp red litmus near the The gas turns damp litmus paper
mouth of the test tube blue
Carbon dioxide CO2 Bubble or pass the gas through A white precipitate is formed
limewater inside the limewater / the
limewater turns milky
Hydrogen H2 Insert a burning splint inside a test A pop sound is produced and the
tube splint is extinguished
Oxygen O2 Insert a glowing splint inside a test The glowing splint re-lights
test tube
Chlorine Cl2 Hold a damp litmus paper near the The gas bleaches the litmus paper
mouth of the test tube

Note

 In the test for chloride, iodide and sulphate, dilute nitric acid is added to the mixture to destroy any
carbonate in the salt solution which will form carbonates of the test solution that will appear as a precipitate.
The acid will dissolve the carbonate to form a soluble nitrate, carbon dioxide and water
 The tests for chloride, iodide and sulphate are precipitation reactions. The ionic equations are
Chloride: Ag+ (aq) + Cl- (aq) AgCl (s)
Iodide: Pb2+ (aq) + I- (aq) PbI2 (s)
Sulphate: Ba2+ (aq) + SO42- (aq) BaSO4 (s)

 In the test for the nitrate ion, the production of ammonia takes place in two steps
1. The NO3- ion is reduced to ammonium ion by the nascent hydrogen produced by aluminium metal and
sodium hydroxide
NO3- (aq) + 8[H] NH4+ (aq) + H2O (l) + 2OH- (aq)
2. The ammonium ion reacts with the hydroxide ion to form ammonia
NH4+ (aq) + OH- (aq) NH3 (g) + H2O (l)