Understanding Salts

1. A salt is an ionic compound formed when the hydrogen of an acid is partly or

completely replaced by a metal ion or ammonium ion.
2. All salts are chemically and electrically neutral.

Example

Diagram above shows that when the hydrogen ion in nitric acid is replaced by Na +,
Ca2+, NH4+ or Al3+ ions, salts are formed.

Example:
State whether the following chemical are salt or not salt..
i. barium nitrate _______
ii. zinc sulphate _______
iii. aluminium oxide _______
iv. carbon dioxide _______
v. tin nitrate _______
vi. glucose _______

vii. ethanol _______

Answer:
Barium nitrate, zinc sulphate and tin nitrate are salts.
Aluminium oxide, carbon dioxide, glucose and ethanol are not salts.
There are 4 types of salt that you need to know in the SPM syllabus:
Four type of Salt, there are:

1. Nitrate,
2. Chloride,
3. Sulphate,
4. Carbonate,

Solubility Of Salts
Solubility of Salts
1. Solubility is the ability of a compound to dissolve in a solvent.
2. Table below shows the solubility of the salts of nitrate, sulphate, chloride and
carbonate.

Salt

Solubility

Salt of potassium, sodium All soluble in water

and ammonium
Salt of nitrate

All soluble in water

Salt of sulphate

Mostly soluble in water except:

(Pb) Lead sulphate
(Ba) Barium sulphate
(Ca) Calcium sulphate

Salt of chloride

Mostly soluble in water except:

(Pb) Lead chloride

(Ag) silver chloride
(Hg) mercury chloride
Salt of carbonate

Mostly insoluble in water except:

Potassium carbonate
Sodium carbonate
Ammonium carbonate

Notes:
Lead halide such as lead(II) chloride (PbCl2), lead(II) bromide (PbBr2) and lead (II)
iodide (PbI2) are insoluble in cold water but soluble in hot water.

Solubility of oxide and hydroxide

Oxide and Hydroxide

Solubility

Oxide

Mostly insoluble in water except: K2O and Na2O.

Hydroxide

Mostly insoluble in water except: KOH and NaOH

Preparing Soluble Salts

Preparation of Soluble Salts
1. There are 2 things to be considered when preparing a salt:
a. What are the chemical used?
b. How to separate the salt from other substance?
2. Method used to prepare salt depends on the solubility of the salt.
3. Soluble salts are prepared from the reactions between an acid with a metal/
base/ metal carbonate.
4. Diagram below shows the chemical reaction that can be used to prepare the
soluble salts.

Example:
Write chemical equation(s) for the reaction that can be used to prepare the
following salts.
1. Sodium Chloride
2. Ammonium Nitrate
3. Potassium sulphate
4. Zinc Sulphate (3 equations)
5. Lead(II) nitrate(3 equations)
6. Copper sulphate(2 equations)
Answer:
a. Sodium Chloride
NaOH + HCl NaCl + H2O

b. Ammonium Nitrate
NH3 + HNO3 NH4NO3
c. Potassium sulphate
KOH + H2SO4 K2SO4 + H2O
d. Zinc Sulphate (3 equations)
ZnO + H2SO4 ZnSO4 + H2O
Zn + H2SO4 ZnSO4 + H2
ZnCO3 + H2SO4 ZnSO4 + H2O + CO2
e. Lead(II) nitrate(3 equations)
PbO + 2HNO3 Pb(NO3)2 + H2O
Pb + 2HNO3 Pb(NO3)2 + H2
PbCO3 + 2HNO3 Pb(NO3)2 + H2O + CO2
f. Copper sulphate(2 equations)
CuO + H2SO4 CuSO4 + H2O
CuCO3 + H2SO4 CuSO4 + H2O + CO2

Preparing Salts Of Potassium, Sodium And Ammonium

1. Potassium, sodium and ammonium salts are usually prepared through the
reactions of acids with alkalis.
2. Reaction acid with alkali will produce salt and water.
Acid + Alkali Salt + Water
3. The salt is prepared by titration method of acid and alkali using an indicator.

Steps to Prepare the Salts of Potassium, Sodium and Ammonium through Titration

Step 1 Titration to Find the End Point

1. The end point is the point in a titration at which the 2 reactants have
completely reacted.
2. An endpoint is often marked by a color change.

Step 2 Titrate Without Indicator

1. The product obtain in step 1 is contaminate by the indicator.

2. The reaction is repeated by using the same amount of reactants as in step 1,
without using any indicator.

Step 3 Crystalisation

Step 4 Filtration and Drying

Preparing Salts Of Non-"Potassium, Sodium And Ammonium"

1. The salt non-potassium, sodium and ammonium is prepared by reacting acid
with insoluble metal/metal oxide/metal carbonate:
a. Acid + Metal Salt + Hydrogen (Displacement reaction)
b. Acid + Metal oxide Salt + Water (Neutralisation Reaction)
c. Acid + Metal carbonate Salt + Water + Carbon Dioxide
2. Below is the steps in preparing the soluble non-potassium, sodium and
ammonium salts.

Step 1 The Reaction

Add metal/metal oxide/metal carbonate powder until excess into a fixed volume of
the heated acid

Step 2 Filtration 1 to Remove Excess Reactant

Filter the mixture to remove excess metal/metal oxide/metal carbonate

Step 3 Crystalisation

1. Evaporate the filtrate until it becomes a saturated solution

2. Dip in a glass rod, if crystals are formed, the solution is saturated.

Step 4 Filtration 2 to Collect the Solid Salt

1. Cooled at room temperature

2. Filter and dry the salt crystals by pressing them between filter papers.

Preparing Insoluble Salts

1. Insoluble salts can be made by ionic precipitation (is also called double
decomposition/double displacement).
2. This involves mixing a solution that contains its positive ions with another
solution that contains its negative ions.

Example:
Write the equation of the reaction that can be used to prepare the following salt:
1. Calcium sulphate
2. Lead chloride
3. Copper carbonate
Answer:
a. Calcium sulphate
CaCl2 + NaSO4 CaSO4 + 2NaCl
Ca(NO3)2 + ZnSO4 CaSO4 + Zn(NO3)2

b. Lead chloride
Pb(NO3)2 + 2NaCl PbCl2 + 2NaNO3
c. Copper carbonate
CuSO4 + Na2CO3 CuCO3 + Na2SO4
CuCl2 + K2CO3 CuCO3 + 2KCl
Cu(NO3)2 + Na2CO3 CuCO3 + 2NaNO3

Qualitative Analysis
Identification of Ions
There are 10 cations and 4 anions to be studied in our syllabus:
Cation
Sodium

Na+

Iron (II)

Fe2+

Calcium

Ca2+

Iron (III)

Fe3+

Magnesium

Mg2+

Lead(II)

Pb2+

Aluminium

Al3+

Copper (II)

Cu2+

Zinc

Zn2+

Ammonium

NH4+

Anion
Chloride ion

Cl-

sulphate ion

SO42-

nitrate ion

NO3-

carbonate ion

CO3-

Steps in qualitative analysis

Colour Of Ions
Colour of Ions
Salt or metal oxide
Salt of Sodium, Calcium, Magnesium, Aluminium, zinc, Lead, ammonium
Salt of Chloride, sulphate, nitrate, carbonate
Salt of Copper(II).Copper(II) Carbonate
Copper(II) sulphate, Copper(II) nitrate, Copper(II) chloride

Copper(II) oxide
Salt of Iron (II):
Iron(II) sulphate; Iron(II) nitrate; Iron(ID chloride
Salt of Iron (III):
Iron(III) sulphate; Iron(III) nitrate; Iron(III) chloride
Zink oxide
Lead(II) oxideMagnesium oxide, Aluminium oxide
Potassium oxide, Sodium oxide, Calcium oxide

Iron (II) ion

Heating Effect On Carbonate Salts

1. All carbonates salts except potassium carbonate and sodium carbonate can
be decomposed by heat to produce carbon dioxide gas.
2. Table below shows the effect of heating on metal carbonate.

Carbonate Salt
Potassium carbonate
Sodium carbonate
Calcium carbonate
Magnesium carbonate
Aluminium carbonate
Zinc carbonate
Iron (III) carbonate
Lead(II) carbonate
Copper(II) carbonate

Equation of The Reaction

Will not decompose by heat

Calcium carbonate
CaCO3 CaO + CO2
Aluminium carbonate
Al2(CO3)3 Al2O3 + 3CO2
Copper carbonate

CuCO3 CuO + CO2

Mercury(II) carbonate
Silver carbonate
Aurum(II) carbonate

Silver carbonate

Ammonium carbonate

(NH4)2CO3 2NH3 + 2CO2 + H2O

2Ag2CO3 2Ag + 2CO2 + O2

Heating Effect On Nitrate Salts

1. All nitrates salts decompose when heated.

2. Table below shows the products formed when different nitrate salts are
heated.

Nitrate Salt

Equation of The Reaction

Ammonium nitrate

Ammonium nitrate decompose to nitrogen monoxide and water

vapour when heated.
NH4NO3 N2O + 2H2O

Potassium nitrate
Sodium nitrate

Potassium nitrate
2KNO3 2KNO2 + O2
Sodium nitrate
2NaNO3 2NaNO2 + O2

Calcium nitrate
Magnesium nitrate
Aluminium nitrate
Zink nitrate
Iron (III) nitrate
Lead(II) nitrate
Copper(II) nitrate

Magnesium nitrate
2Mg(NO3)2 2MgO + 4NO2 + O2
Iron(III) nitrate
4Fe(NO3)3 2Fe2O3 + 12NO2 + 3O2
Lead(II) nitrate

2Pb(NO3)2 2PbO + 4NO2 + O2

Mercury(II) nitrate
Silver(I) nitrate
Aurum(II) nitrate

Silver nitrate
2AgNO3 2Ag + 2NO2 + O2

Heating Effect On Sulphate Salts

1. Most sulphate salts do not decompose by heat. For instance, sodium
sulphate, potassium sulphate, and calcium sulphate are not decomposable by
heat.
2. Only certain sulphate salts are decomposed by heat when heated strongly.
3. For instance:
a. Strong heating of green crystal iron (II) sulphate will release steam,
sulphur dioxide, sulphur trioxide and leave behind a reddish solid iron
(III) oxide residue. The steam released comes from the hydrated water
of the crystallize salt.
2FeSO47H2O Fe2O3(p) + SO2(g) + SO3(g) + 14H2O(g)

b. Meanwhile, zinc sulphate, copper (II) sulphate, and iron (III) sulphate
decompose when heated strongly to evolve sulphur trioxide gas and
form a metal oxide.
Example
Zinc sulphate
ZnSO4 ZnO + SO3
Copper (II) sulphate
CuSO4 CuO + SO3
Iron (III) sulphate

Fe2(SO4)3 Fe2O3 + 3SO3

c. When ammonium sulphate is heated strongly, this white solid

sublimate and is decomposed to form ammonia gas and sulphuric acid.
vapour
(NH4)2SO4 NH3 + H2SO4

Preparing Salts Of Potassium, Sodium And Ammonium

1. Potassium, sodium and ammonium salts are usually prepared through the
reactions of acids with alkalis.
2. Reaction acid with alkali will produce salt and water.
Acid + Alkali Salt + Water
3. The salt is prepared by titration method of acid and alkali using an indicator.

Steps to Prepare the Salts of Potassium, Sodium and Ammonium through Titration
Step 1 Titration to Find the End Point

1. The end point is the point in a titration at which the 2 reactants have
completely reacted.
2. An endpoint is often marked by a color change.

Step 2 Titrate Without Indicator

1. The product obtain in step 1 is contaminate by the indicator.

2. The reaction is repeated by using the same amount of reactants as in step 1,
without using any indicator.

Step 3 Crystalisation

Step 4 Filtration and Drying