Acid–base reaction

An acid-base reaction is a chemical reaction between an acid and a base. The products of such a reaction are a salt and water. This reaction may also regarded as neutralization reaction.

The reaction can be simplified to

OH⁻
(aq) + H⁺
(aq) → H
₂O

The other ions remain constant because they are not affected by the reaction. They are called spectator ions.

Acids and oxides

An example of an acid-oxide reaction is sulfuric acid and copper(II) oxide reacting to form copper sulfate and water:

H₂SO₄ + CuO —> CuSO₄ + H₂O

Another example of an acid-oxide reaction is nitric acid reacting with sodium oxide to form sodium nitrate and water:

2 HNO₃ + Na₂O —> 2 NaNO₃ + H₂O

The general equation is:

acid + oxide = salt + water

Acids and hydroxides

This is one of the more common acid-base reactions. This reaction is one of the few processes to make sodium chloride using hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide:

HCl + NaOH —> NaCl + H₂O

Acids and carbonates

An acid can also react with a carbonate, which is a relatively weak base. An example is acetic acid reacting with calcium carbonate to form calcium acetate, carbon dioxide and water:

2 CH₃COOH + CaCO₃ —> Ca(CH₃COO)₂ + CO₂ + H₂O

The products of an acid-carbonate reaction is a soluble salt, carbon dioxide and water.