SALTS

A salt is a compound that contains a positive and a negative ion, the negative ion of which comes
from an acid.
N.B; salts are named from the acid in which they are obtained from, e.g. hydrochloric acid forms
chloride, sulphuric acid forms sulphates.
A good number of salts are soluble in water while other salts are insoluble, knowledge of
solubility of salts is important when preparing salts
“ refer to the solubility rules”
Methods of preparing soluble salts
1. Reaction of an acid with a metal
e.g. Mg(s) + HCl(aq) MgCl2(aq) + H2(g)
2. Reaction of acid with alkali
e.g. HCl(aq) + NaOH(aq) NaCl(aq) + H2O(l)
3. Reaction of an acid with a carbonate
e.g. 2HCl(aq) + CaCO3(s) CaCl(aq) + CO2(g) + H2O(l)
4. Reaction of acid with metal oxide
e.g. 2HCl(aq) + CaO(s) CaCl2(aq) + H2O(l)

General steps of salt preparation

1. Reaction – add metal/carbonate/metal oxide in excess to make sure all the acid is used up
2. Filtration – to remove the excess
3. Heating and Evaporation – to saturate or concentrate the solution
4. Cooling and crystalisation – allow saturated solution to cool and start forming crystals
5. Filter and dry the crystals – filter out any remaining water and dry the crystals.

Example using the reaction of acid + metal oxide;

Preparation of Insoluble salts
Insoluble salts are prepared by a method known as Precipitation.
This involves mixing two solutions of soluble salts. When these are mixed, a reaction takes place
in which the salt is formed as a precipitate ( a solid which is formed in a solution).

Soluble salt + Soluble salt Insoluble salt(precipitate) + soluble salt

Steps
1.Solutions of the two soluble salts are prepared separately
2. the two solutions are then mixed together
3. A precipitate is formed, this is the insoluble salt
4. The precipitate is filtered off is collected as the residue
5. it is washed by pouring plenty of distilled water on ot
6. it is the dried by pressing between filter papers.
E.g
To prepare Barium Sulphate (BaSO4), We need Barium salt which is soluble and sulphate salt
which is soluble
Na2SO4(aq) + BaNO3(aq) BaSO4(s) + NaNO3(aq)
Water of crystallization
It is the water contained in some crystals.

Hydrated crystals- these are crystals which contain water of crystallization e.g. CuSO4.5H2O
Anhydrous crystals- these are crystals that do not contain water of crystallisatio. E.g NaCl

Qualitative Analysis (Test for ions)

It is the analysis of ions from samples using colour of their precipitates and types of gases
produced in a chemical reaction.
FOR CATIONS; Aqueous Sodium Hydroxide and Ammonia solutions are used

Cation Effect of Aqueous Sodium Effect of aqueos Ammonia

Hydroxide
Copper ion (Cu2+) Light blue precipitate, insoluble in Light blue precipitate,
excess soluble in excess giving a
dark blue solution
Iron (ii) ion (Fe2+) Dirty green precipitate, insoluble in Dirty green precipitate,
excess. insoluble in excess
Iron (iii) ion (Fe3+) Red-brown precipitate, insoluble in Red-brown precipitate,
 excess. insoluble in excess.
Zinc ion (Zn2+) White precipitate, soluble in excess White precipitate, soluble in
giving a colourless solution excess giving a colourless
solution
Aluminium ion (Al3+) White precipitate, soluble in excess White precipitate, insoluble
giving a colourless solution. in excess
Calcium ion (Ca2+) White precipitate, insoluble in No precipitate
excess
Ammonium ion Ammonia produced on warming _
(NH4+)

• Zn2+, Al3+, Ca2+ all show white precipitate hence excess hydroxide and ammonia solutions
may be used to differentiate them.

FOR ANIONS; specif solutions are used to test for specific ions
Anion Test Test result
Carbonate (CO32-) Add dilute acid Effervescence, Carbon
dioxide gas produced ( turns
limewater milky)
Chloride (Cl-) Acidify with dilute nitric acid White precipitate
(in solution) then add aqueous silver
nitrate
Sulphate (SO42-) Acidify with dilute nitric White precipitate
(in solution) acid, then add aqueous
barium nitrate
Iodide (I-) Acidify with dilute nitric Yellow precipitate
(in solution) acid, then add aqueous lead
(ii) nitrate
Nitrate (NO3-) Add aqueous sodium Ammonia produced
(in solution) hydroxide then aluminium
foil, warm carefully.

Test for gases

Gas Test and test result
Ammonia (NH3) Turns damp red litmus paper blue
Carbon dioxide (CO2) Turns limewater milky
Hydrogen (H2) “pops” with a lighted splint
Oxygen (O2) Relights a glowing splint
Chlorine (Cl2) Bleaches damp litmus paper
Sulphur dioxide (SO2) Turns aqueous potassium dichromate(vi)
green
TITRATION
It is a technique that is used to analyse solutions. A solution of known concentration and volume
can be used to find the volume and concentration of other solutions.
Steps that are followed
-A burette is filled with solution (acid)
-Another solution (alkali) of known concentration is placed in a conical flask using a pipette.
-Two or three drops of a suitable indicator ( e.g. methy orange) are added in to a solution in the
conical flask
-The solution from the burette is run in to the conical flask until the indicator just changes colour
-the steps above are repeated until consistent results are obtained, the average of the volume
used is calculated, it is used to calculate the concentration of the acid.

End point in a titration is the point at which the indicator changes its colour indicating that the
reaction is complete.
Finding Concentration of acid solution
• Step 1; use info on the standard solution
How many moles of alkali are in the flask

• Step 2; use the chemical equation

How many moles of acid are used

• Step 3; use the titration value

What is the concentration of the acid
Example;