Question

What are the products when sodium hydroxide reacts with nitric acid?

Answer 1

Hint : Sodium Hydroxide is a strong base while Nitric acid is a strong acid. When they are made to react together, a neutralisation reaction occurs. The products formed will be the corresponding salt and a water molecule.

Complete Step By Step Answer:
Sodium Hydroxide is an inorganic compound having molecular formula $NaOH.$ It is an ionic compound, consisting of sodium cations and hydroxide anions. Since it ionizes in aqueous solution completely to produce hydroxide ions, it is a strong base. The ionization is depicted as follows:
$NaOH \to N{a^ + }\, + \,O{H^ - }$
Nitric acid is a mineral acid. It is highly corrosive in nature. The molecular formula of nitric acid is $HN{O_3}.$ In aqueous solution, it is completely ionized to form hydronium ion and nitrate ion. The formation of hydronium ions is the reason for its strong acid character.
$HN{O_3} \to {H^ + }\, + \,NO_3^ - $
The reaction between sodium hydroxide and nitric acid is a typical example for a neutralization reaction. A neutralization reaction is one where an acid reacts with a base to form a salt and a molecule of water. Water is formed when the ${H^ + }{\text{and}}\,O{H^ - }$obtained from the acid and base respectively, combine. The salt obtained as one of the products is sodium nitrate.
The balanced reaction between strong base sodium hydroxide and strong acid nitric acid is as follows:
\[HN{O_3}{\text{ }} + {\text{ }}NaOH{\text{ }} \to {\text{ }}NaN{O_3}{\text{ }} + {\text{ }}{H_2}O\]
Hence, the products formed when sodium hydroxide reacts with nitric acid are sodium nitrate and water respectively.

Note :
The sodium ions and the nitrate ions are called spectator in this reaction as they do not participate actively in the reaction. They only form an ionic product, while the proton and the hydroxide ion combine to form water. The formation of water in the neutralization reaction is the reaction at the forefront.