Acids & Bases
What You’ll Learn
Salts can form acidic, basic, or neutral solutions when dissolved in water, depending on the nature of the constituent ions. If the cation is the conjugate acid of a weak base and the anion is the conjugate base of a strong acid, the solution will be acidic. If the cation is the conjugate acid of a strong base and the anion is the conjugate base of a weak acid, the solution will be basic. If both the cation and anion are derived from strong acids/bases or weak acids/bases, the solution will be neutral.