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// FIELD GUIDE 17 — LEVEL L3 (GCSE / NATIONAL 5)

Acids, bases & making salts

Every acid has three different ways to be neutralised — by a metal, a base, or a carbonate — and each one hands you a different salt. Pick a partner below and see what forms.
// SALT BUILDER — HYDROCHLORIC ACID + …
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HCl + {{ partnerFormula }}
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// FIG. 01 — TITRATION: DRIP IN THE ALKALI
ALKALI ADDED{{ volume }} mL
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// L3 — THREE WAYS TO MAKE A SALT
Acid + metal → salt + hydrogen (fizzes). Acid + base/alkali → salt + water (neutralisation). Acid + carbonate → salt + water + carbon dioxide (fizzes differently — CO₂ turns limewater cloudy, hydrogen pops). Which acid you use decides the salt's second half: hydrochloric acid always makes a chloride, sulfuric acid a sulfate, nitric acid a nitrate.
// L3 — TITRATION FINDS THE EXACT POINT
A titration adds alkali to acid drop by drop while tracking pH, so you can find the exact volume where they've fully neutralised each other — the equivalence point. Notice how flat the curve is far from that point, then how sharply it jumps right around it: a single extra drop of alkali can swing the pH by several units near equivalence.
// REFERENCES & FURTHER READING
Wikipedia — Salt (chemistry) ↗ Wikipedia — Neutralization ↗ Wikipedia — Titration ↗
Cross-check against your own exam board's specification (AQA, Edexcel, OCR, SQA).
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