Neutralization Reactions

Acids and bases react chemically with each other to form salts. A salt is a general chemical term for any ionic compound formed from an acid and a base. In reactions where the acid is a hydrogen ion containing compound and the base is a hydroxide ion containing compound, water is also a product. The general reaction is as follows:

The reaction of acid and base to make water and a salt is called neutralization. Like any chemical equation, a neutralization chemical equation must be properly balanced. For example, the neutralization reaction between sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid is as follows:

with coefficients all understood to be one. The neutralization reaction between sodium hydroxide and sulfuric acid is as follows: