Naming salts

The name of the salt produced in a neutralisation reaction can be predicted. The first part of the name is 'ammonium' if the base used is ammonia. Otherwise, it is the name of the metal in the base. The second part of the name comes from theacid used:

• Chloride (if hydrochloric acid is used)
• Nitrate (if nitric acid is used)
• Sulfate (if sulfuric acid is used)

The table shows some examples:

 

Acid	+	Base	→	Salt + Water
Hydrochloric acid	+	Copper oxide	→	Copper chloride + water
Sulfuric acid	+	Sodium hydroxide	→	Sodium sulfate + water
Nitric acid	+	Calcium hydroxide	→	Calcium nitrate + water

Ammonium salts

Many artificial fertilisers are ammonium salts, made by the reaction of an acid with ammonia solution. For example:

 

Acid	Alkali	Fertiliser
Nitric acid	Ammonia solution	Ammonium nitrate
Phosphoric acid	Ammonia solution	Ammonium phosphate
Sulfuric acid	Ammonia solution	Ammonium sulfate