Salts and Their Preparation

📚 Key Concepts

🔹 Real-Life Example

Table salt (sodium chloride) is the most common salt we encounter daily. But did you know there are many other salts around us? Epsom salt (magnesium sulphate) for baths, potassium nitrate in fertilizers, and calcium carbonate in chalk – all are salts formed from different acids and bases!

Salt: Ionic compounds formed when acids react with bases, metals, metal oxides, or metal carbonates. They are electrically neutral and have distinct properties.

🧪 Methods of Salt Preparation

🔸 Direct Combination

Metal + Non-metal → Salt

Example: 2Na + Cl₂ → 2NaCl

🔸 Neutralization

Acid + Base → Salt + Water

Example: HCl + NaOH → NaCl + H₂O

🔸 Metal + Acid Metal + Acid → Salt + Hydrogen

Example: Zn + 2HCl → ZnCl₂ + H₂

🔸 Metal Oxide + Acid Metal Oxide + Acid → Salt + Water

Example: CuO + H₂SO₄ → CuSO₄ + H₂O

🔸 Metal Carbonate + Acid Metal Carbonate + Acid → Salt + CO₂ + Water

Example: CaCO₃ + 2HCl → CaCl₂ + CO₂ + H₂O

🔍 Advanced: Salt Families

Salts with the same cation or anion belong to the same family:

• Chloride family: NaCl, KCl, CaCl₂
• Sulphate family: Na₂SO₄, K₂SO₄, CuSO₄
• Sodium family: NaCl, Na₂SO₄, Na₂CO₃