What should the pH of salt water be?

1 Answer
anor277
Feb 9, 2017

Of aqueous sodium chloride? pH=7.

Explanation:

Sodium chloride is the salt of a strong base, NaOH, and a strong acid, HCl. Because this is a strong base/strong acid pair, by definition, their counterions, Na^+, and Cl^-, do not undergo water hydrolysis. Contrast this behaviour with an aqueous solution of "sodium fluoride". The pH of this solution is >7. Given that HF(aq), unlike HCl, HBr, HI, is a WEAK ACID, how can this solution behaviour be rationalized?

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