Question

What is the pH of salt?

Answer 1

Hint: Salts have their respective natures, as acidic or basic, which can be determined in their aqueous solutions. pH is calculated through a pH scale. A pH scale consists of 14 values, from acidic to basic. Acidic salts liberate more hydronium ions, while basic salts liberate more hydroxide ions in aqueous salt solutions.

Complete answer:
Salts are formed when any acid reacts with a base, which is the neutralization reaction. These salts formed are either acidic or basic when dissolved in aqueous solutions.
As we know, pH of any substance is its potency to liberate ${{H}^{+}}$ ions in a solution, or it is the concentration of these hydrogen ions. Substances with a pH lower than 4 are acidic, while higher than 10 are basic, a pH between 6 to 8 is considered neutral.
According to the strengths of acids and bases, salts are of 3 types:
-salts of strong acid and strong base
They are formed by neutralization between strong acids and strong bases. For example, NaCl, KCl, etc. These salts have a pH = 7, and thus they are called neutral salts.
-salts of weak acid and strong base
They are formed on reaction of a weak acid with a strong base. For example, $C{{H}_{3}}COONa$, $N{{a}_{2}}C{{O}_{3}}$, etc. These salts have a pH greater than 7, pH >7, and so they termed as basic salts.
-salts of strong acid and weak base
They are formed by reaction of strong acid with a weak base. For example, $N{{H}_{4}}Cl$, $AlC{{l}_{3}}$, etc. These salts have pH lower than 7, pH <7, and so they are termed as acidic salts.
Hence, the pH of salts determines their acidic, basic and neutral nature.

Note: The strong acids have the power to liberate more hydrogen ions, while strong bases can liberate more hydroxide ions. More the concentration of hydrogen ions, lesser is the pH, while more concentration of hydroxide ions, higher is the pH.