Determine if the following salt is neutral, acidic or basic.

Question

Determine if the following salt is neutral, acidic or basic. If acidic or basic, write the appropriate equilibrium equation for the acid or base that exists when the salt is dissolved in aqueous solution. If neutral, simply write only NR.

Ba(CHO₂)₂

Answer 1

Ba(CHO₂)₂ is barium formate. This salt is formed from the reaction of a STRONG BASE, Ba(OH)2 and a WEAK ACID, formic acid, HCOOH.

The pH of the salt will be basic.

Dissolving the salt in water results in hydrolysis, and the equation is ...

Ba(CHO₂₎₂ + 2H₂O ==> Ba(OH)₂ + 2HCOOH

or more appropriately, we would write HCOO^- + H₂O ==> HCOOH + OH^-

HCOO^- is a conjugate base of HCOOH and so the equilibrium expression is K_b = [HCOOH][OH^-]/[HCOO^-]