Question

3. Determine if the overall solution containing the following salts would be acidic, basic or neutral. Write out the ion with their conjugates and state if the conjugate would be considered strong or weak. a. FeCl2 b. KHCO3 c. NH4F

Answer 1

Answer:

The following solutions would be produced from dissociation of these salts: A. acidic B. Basic C. Acidic

Explanation:

• Salts of weak bases and strong acids neutralization would hydrolyze, which gives it a pH less than 7.
• Salts formed by neutralization reaction between strong bases and weak acids hydrolyze, which gives it a pH greater than 7.

A.) FeCl2 (aq) + H20 ⇄ $Fe(OH^{-}) _{2}(aq) + Cl^{-}(aq)$ ------- weakly acidic

B.) KHCO3(aq) + H20(aq) ⇄ $K^{+}(aq) + OH^{-}(aq) + HCO_{3}(aq)$ ----- strongly basic

C.) NH4F + H2O ⇄  $NH_{3}(aq) + H_{3} O^{+} (aq) + F^{-} (aq)$ -----weakly acidic

This is due to the fact that the anion will become a spectator ion and fail to attract the H+, while the cation from the weak base will donate a proton to the water forming a hydronium ion.