A neutralization reaction is an acid-base reaction. That is because it yields neutral products. Water is always one of the byproducts, and salt also forms. Salt is an ionic substance that is neutral.
Now let us at how a neutralization reaction creates both water and salt. We will consider the reaction between hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide as an example.
The overall equation for this reaction is:
NaOH + HCl → H2O + NaCl
Let us now divide this reaction into two portions to examine how each product gets formed.
Positive hydrogen ions (H+) from HCl and negative hydroxide ions (OH-) from NaOH combine to form water. The reaction below depicts this part of the equation:
H+ + OH– → H2O
Positive sodium ions (Na+) from NaOH, and negative chloride ions (Cl–) from HCl combine to form the salt sodium chloride (NaCl), commonly called table salt. The reaction below depicts this part of the equation:
Na+ + Cl– → NaCl
Important points to remember
An acid is a chemical that raises the quantity of H+ in an aqueous solution.
A base is a chemical that increases the quantity of OH in an aqueous solution.
Neutralization is the interaction of an acid and a base that results in the formation of water and salt.
Solid acids, solid bases, solid salts, and water may get included in net ionic equations for neutralization processes.
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