Question

Fill in the blanks by using correct words/terms given in the brackets

Sodium acetate is a salt of a weak acid and _______ base. (weak/strong)

Answer 1

Salts

Salts are the compounds that dissociate in solution to form cations and anions other than protons and hydroxide ions. The nature of salt depends on the strength of ionic bonds between the ions in the salt.

Formation of Sodium acetate

Sodium acetate $\left({\mathrm{CH}}_3\mathrm{COONa}\right)$ is a salt that contains sodium ions $\left({\mathrm{Na}}^{+}\right)$ and acetate ions $\left({\mathrm{CH}}_3{\mathrm{COO}}^{-}\right)$. Therefore, they are formed from acids containing acetate ions like Acetic acid $\left({\mathrm{CH}}_3\mathrm{COOH}\right)$ and bases containing sodium ions like Sodium hydroxide $\left(\mathrm{NaOH}\right)$.

The formation of Sodium acetate can be given as:

${\mathrm{CH}}_3\mathrm{COOH}\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)+\mathrm{NaOH}\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)\to {\mathrm{CH}}_3\mathrm{COONa}\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)+{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)$

Acetic acid is a weak acid and Sodium hydroxide is a strong base.

Therefore, Sodium hydroxide is a salt of a weak acid and a strong base.