Acids and Alkalis: Making Salts

Acids react with bases to produce a salt and water, a reaction known as neutralisation.
Acids are substances that can donate a proton (H+ ion), while bases are substances that can accept a proton.
Different reactions involving acids and alkalis might be exothermic, releasing energy in the form of heat.
Common bases include metal oxides, metal hydroxides and metal carbonates. Each of these reacts with acids to form salts.
An alkali is a type of base that dissolves in water to form hydroxide (OH-) ions.
The specific type of salt produced during a reaction is dependent on the specific base and acid that reacted. For instance, hydrochloric acid reacts with sodium hydroxide to form sodium chloride, a common table salt.
Universal indicator or litmus paper can be used to indicate whether a solution is acidic (red color) or alkaline (blue color), or neutral (green color).
A neutral solution will have a pH of 7. Acidic solutions have pH less than 7, and alkaline solutions have pH greater than 7.
Acids and alkalis can be strong (completely ionise in water) or weak (partially ionise). One can use the pH scale to identify the strength of an acid or alkali.
The preparation of soluble salts can involve the reaction of an acid with a metal, a base or a carbonate.
In some reactions, it may be necessary to use the technique of evaporation or crystallization to isolate the salts formed.
Titration is typically used to accurately measure the volume of a solution that reacts completely with another solution.