Acid-Base Properties of Salts and Oxides

Some salts have acid-base properties. Ammonium chloride, NH4C1, when dissolved in water will dissociate and the ammonium ion will act as a weak acid, donating a proton. The strong bases previously listed are all salts that dissolve yielding the hydroxide ion (which is really the base, not the salt). 

Certain oxides can have acid or basic properties. Many oxides of metals that have a +1 or +2 charge are basic oxides because they will react with water to form a basic solution  

Many non metal oxides are acidic oxides because they react with water to form an acidic solution  

Another salt-like group of compounds that have acid-base properties is the hydrides of the alkali metals and calcium, strontium, and barium. These hydrides will react with water to form the hydroxide ion and hydrogen gas  

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Acid-Base Properties of Salts and Oxides Many salts react with water in a process called hydrolysis. From the nature of the cation and anion present in the salt, it is possible to predict the pH of the resulting solution. Most oxides also react with water to produce acidic or basic solutions. 

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