Neutralization Reactions

• Neutralization reactions are a special category of double displacement reaction where the reactants will always be an acid and a base, and the products will always be a salt and water.
• The strength of an acid or a base refers to the amount of pure acid/base that dissociates (breaks apart) per volume of water.
• Greater ionization of acids create more hydrogen ions in a solution, increasing the acidity.
• Strong acids have greater ionization in water.
• Weak acids do not separate fully in water, releasing fewer H+ ions.
• The terms “strength” and “concentration” are not the same thing, strength measures the number of free ions of a substance in solution, while concentration measures the number of ions of substance in a given volume of solution.
• Examples of neutralization reactions include HCl (aq) + NaOH (aq) → NaCl + H2O, H2SO4 (aq) + KOH (aq) → K2SO4 + H2O, and HNO3 (aq) + Ca(OH)2 (aq) → HBr (aq) + KOH (aq).
• Neutralization reactions can also be seen in applications such as perming your hair, where a base is applied to the hair to break the bonds between the hair, the hair is put into curlers and the bonds reform in the shape of the curl, and to stop the reaction, an acid is applied to neutralize the base.
• Antacids, which are mild bases that neutralize the acids in your stomach to ease discomfort, are also examples of neutralization reactions.
• When an acid is spilled, a base can be applied to neutralize it and make it safe to handle during clean up.
• Small scale spills can be cleaned up and neutralized with baking soda (NaHCO3).
• Large scale spills require hazmat crews to neutralize the acid before critical environmental damage occurs.